Racism is the central subject of "Telephone Conversation." In the poem, a black guy attempts to finalize a housing agreement over the phone with a landlady. He wants to tell the landlady he's black, and a crazy debate develops over how dark his complexion is. The guy ends up not buying the apartment because of this disagreement.
Darkness is also an important theme in the poem. The black man calls himself "a shadow of a shade" and says that everyone thinks he's "about as black as any other white man."
Finally, racism is what brings all these different ideas together in the first place. It's the reason this conversation takes place on the phone; it's too dangerous for them to meet face-to-face.
In conclusion, the main theme of "Telephone Conversation" by Carl Sandburg is racism. This one idea connects all the different parts of the poem together.
"Telephone Conversation" is a racist satire written by Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka in 1963. The poem is about a phone call about renting an apartment between a landlady and the speaker, who is black. It was first published in a magazine called Our Corner in London.
Soyinka wrote this poem after he had been refused accommodation because of his skin color. In Africa at that time, black people were not allowed to stay in white apartments or hotels. Also, they could not use some public facilities like restaurants or toilets. So, most of them lived in slums and tried to find work as servants or shop assistants.
In Nigeria today, there are many cases where blacks are denied housing loans or apartment rentals because of their skin color. That's why Soyinka wrote this poem: to condemn this practice.
Here is how the poem starts: "A telephone call from upcountry / Renting an apartment for a month". Upcountry at that time meant rural areas. So, the landlady calls him to ask if she can rent her apartment to someone else for one month. When he says yes, she asks if he is black and he replies no. That's it. The poem ends here too. Soyinka says in his introduction that this is a true story but he changed some names to protect the innocent.
Wole Soyinka's poem "Telephone Conversation," written in the first person narrative point of view, is a literary satire on the widespread racism in current Western culture. The poem also serves as a testimonial to the power of communication technology to unite people from different parts of the world.
The poem begins with a description of a modern-day telephone exchange, where voices are converted into electrical signals that can be transmitted over long distances via cables. It continues by presenting a fictional exchange owner who refuses to connect two black callers because of their race. After writing a letter of complaint to the company, they are eventually able to make contact through another company that has not received any complaints about its service. The last stanza reveals that this unexpected connection has led to many more between blacks and whites across the globe, thereby proving that prejudice is a universal value that cannot be avoided even when using modern technology to communicate.
In conclusion, the poem states that with enough patience and determination, everyone can be connected by means of telephone technology, regardless of race or religion. It also notes that while some people may believe that only certain groups should have access to this type of communication, it is possible for anyone to be at the other end of the line.
"Telephone Conversation" has a single stanza, 37 lines total, free verse (no rhymes), and a narrative form that is both internal, expressed via conversation, and external, communicated through dialogue. The poem was published in May 1876 in the New York Tribune under the pseudonym "Oliver Wendell Holmes." It was later included in his collection Merely English (1877).
The poem describes two conversations between an unnamed man and woman. The first conversation takes place at 11:30 on a weekday morning in April, and the second conversation occurs at 3:15 on Sunday afternoon in August. Both conversations last for about 20 minutes. During each conversation, the speaker notes various events that occur, such as calls being made or received on a telephone. At the end of each conversation, the speaker adds a comment on what has happened during that time.
Holmes based "The Telephone" on his own experience with the new technology. In fact, he used information from interviews he conducted with businessmen to write this poem. He claimed in interviews that he could remember specific details from each of his conversations because they lasted so long.
Although written more than 100 years ago, "The Telephone" remains relevant today.
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