"Telephone Conversation" is actually a biting satire
against the racist attitudes of whites in the 20th century. Overtly, the poem deals with
a black, educated man who is ringing up a white landlady about renting an apartment and,
we assume, is not allowed to rent the apartment because of the colour of his skin.
However, if we look a little deeper, we can view this poem as a biting satire that
attacks and ridicules the social evil and human weakness of racial prejudice. Consider
how Soyinka places an educated, clever black person against an ignorant and prejudiced
white person. The poem, through this contrast, shows the ridiculous nature of any racist
claims of white supremacy. The horrendous nature of the question of the landlady, "HOW
DARK?... ARE YOU LIGHT OR VERY DARK?", makes a mockery of "civilised values," as does
the absurd way in which the speaker responds:
Facially, I am brunette, but madam, you should
see
The rest of me. Palm of my hand, soles of my
feet
Are a peroxide blonde. Friction,
caused--
Foolishly, madam--by sitting down, has
turned
My bottom raven
black...
The insistence on
the skin colour indicates that the landlady might accept a light-skinned tenant who
could "pass" at being white. However, this only serves to increase her ignorance and
insensitivity. The double meaning in the final, innocent question, "wouldn't you rather
/ See for yourself?", is hilarious because of the way that the speaker is actually
asking the landlady if she wants to see his bottom to check the
colour.
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