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Topic: Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka
Paper: 14
Paper Name: The African Literature
Prepared by: Drashti Mehta
Roll No:7
PG Enrollment No:PG13101021
Sem:4
Gmail id: [email protected]
Submitted to: Smt. S.B. Gardi, Department of English,
Maharaja Krishnakumarsinghji Bhavnagar University
Bhavnagar University
Bhavnagar(Gujarat-India)
• Born July 13, 1934
• Nigerian playwright, poet
• Denounce the slogan of Negritudeas a tool of autocracy
• Awarded the Nobel prize inLiterature.
Poetic Satire
against the
widely –spread
racism in the
Modern
Western Society.
The poem is about the way people– fail to communicate clearly about matters of race
First Person Narrative’s Point of view
Seems to be tired of his life conditioned by racist prejudices.
Judging by the raw emotions that this poem subtly convey…
…those of anger, rage, shame, humility and an acute sense of disgust at the apathy and inhumanity of humans who won’t judge a book by its cover but would turn down a man for the color of his skin.
Soyinka’s personal experience
Two characters
The Narrator
The speaker
Witty
Intelligent
Use of high diction and quick wit
The Land lady
Shallowly stubborn racist
Lack of intellect
Verbal irony, positive terms
Seems to be undereducated
Instead of discussing price, location, amenities, and other information significant to the apartment, she is interested to discuss more about speaker’s skin colour
Nationality as a persona
•Seeking to rent a home- in England
•Identity as a Black African
•Landlady completely changes her attitude
Colour
• Raven Black Peroxide Blond Brunette
• It seems as if his crime is….his colour
• His remorse is solutionless
• To modern western thinkers, it seems almost comical that anyone should be so submissive when he has no wrongdoing
Telephone Booth & Silence
Means for conversation
Silence powerful issues that need to be voiced, and the so called civilized world, has these…
Silence- the consequence of Land lady’s sophisticated
upbringing
•An instrument that primarily transmits voices,•A Medium for silence
A Universal Message
Prejudice-
ridiculous ideas
The superstitious
narrow-mindedness of
caste and colour
Timeless
message
Contemporary time
• In Today’s world, racism might be a dying concern; but that does not mean that discrimination against other minorities has been completely eradicated.
• Despite the progressing times, people continue to harbor prejudices and illogical suspicions about things they do not understand:
• May it be other ideals, religions or traditions and customs
Red pillar box
“Red booth”,
Anger is hidden with seemingly polite language
Repeated use of word “Red”
“ Red double-tiered/ Omnibus”
Sense of anger
huge bus squelching the black tar
Irony and Racism
Absurdity of racism
What appears to be- what really is
• Puns, irony and sarcasm
Verbal irony
• Ironically the man is ashamed by the tense and awkward silence
Limited choice of words
Simple object of comparison
Affluent economic status, linguistically impoverished character “You mean- like plain or milk
chocolate?”
Language; imagery
1)“Voice, when it came/ Lipstick coated, long gold –rolled/ cigarette- holder pipped.”
Poet’s imagination, higher social class.
2)Witticism and Ingenious sense ofHumor
“The Price seemed reasonable,location indifferent”
• His reply,
• “West African Sepia…Down in my passport”, which was then responded with the landlady’s
• “silence for spectroscopic /Flight of fancy”,
• Double alliteration of “s” and “f” produce a special sound effect, makes the atmosphere fearfully spooky, landlady -dumbfounded.
Alliteration
Alliteration
“HOW DARK
ARE YOU LIGHT OR VERY DARK”
I had not misheard,
“You mean like plain or milk chocolate?”
This is the most apt response as dark chocolate is certainly
more tempting than plain chocolate.
Button B. Button A
automation imagery
Repetition
Confusion
“Facially, I am brunette, but, madam, you should see
The rest of me. Palm of my hand, soles of my feet
Are a peroxide blond.”
Self-confession
• “Madam,” I warned,
“I hate the wasted journey- I am African”.
How can one apologize for one’s race?
He has no reason to be sorry for something
which he was born with and has no control over
The speaker, a West African Man, uses
words like “confession” and “caught” yet he’s
done nothing wrong, he just need a place to live
Conclusion
• In closing, he asks the then empty telephone line, “Wouldn’t you rather/ See for yourself?”
• Speaker’s ignorance
• Readers know that the speaker offers to show his backside to the racist landlady.
• It sounds as though he is asking whether the landlady would like to meet him in person to judge his skin color for herself