Telephone Conversation Essay

1934 Words8 Pages
Telephone Conversation -Wole Soyinka About the Poet: Wole Soyinka is a famous Nigerian writer, poet and playwright. He was born in July 13, 1934. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, where he was recognized as a person who had a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence. Wole is a valiant writer, who believed that the promise of pen belongs to those who can take the bulls by the horns. He has a very unique style in writing and has a thorough command of language. The Poem “Telephone Conversation” is just one of the many of Wole’s Poem Collections and literary pieces. Critique of the Poem: “Telephone Conversation” “Telephone Conversation” a narrative poem, emphasized the thought on racial discrimination. Hints of racial discrimination are keenly seen all throughout the conversation i.e., “How Dark?”, “Are You Light or Very Dark?” “Are you Dark or Very Light?” That’s Dark Isn’t It? I mean so much fuss over if the Tenant to be is light or dark. It almost cost the Man wasted time due to discussing his skin tone. Irony is used by Wole Soyinka to depict the absurdity of racism in his poem. In our opinion, the main meaning of the poem is that whites and blacks are just equals. We should not treat them like they are different. In this poem the main topic of the conversation is the man’s skin tone which is irrelevant and absurd in the main point of renting a room in an apartment. The poem has a very clear decription of the situation, even the title says a lot about the poem itself. The images as presented in the poem are very vivid, and very graphic. Although the poem has no definite form and no rhyme
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