The Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka - 2243 Words

The Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka The Nigerian playwright Wole Soyinka (born 1935) was one of the few African writers to denounce the slogan of Negritude as a tool of autocracy. He also was the first black African to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Wole Soyinka was born July 13, 1934 in Abeokuta a village on the banks of the River Ogun in the western area of Nigeria. His mother was a Christian convert so devout that he nicknamed her Wild Christian and he father was the scholarly headmaster of a Christian primary school whom he nicknamed Essay--a play on his occupation and his initials S.A. Soyinka was educated through the secondary level in Ibadan and later attended University College, Ibadan, and the University†¦show more content†¦Instead, General Ibrahim Babangida, who had ruled the nation for eight years, prohibited the publication of the voting results and installed his deputy, General Sani Abacha, as head of the Nigerian state. Soyinka, along with other pro-democracy activists, was charged wi th treason for his criticism of the military regime. Faced with a death sentence, Soyinka went into exile in 1994, during which time he traveled and lectured in Europe and the United States. Following the death of Abacha, who held control for five years, the new government, led by General Abdulsalem Abubakar, released numerous political prisoners and promised to hold civilian elections. Soyinkas return to his homeland renewed hope for a democratic Nigerian state. Prejudice in Telephone Conversation and Dinner Guest-Me: In ‘Telephone Conversation’ and ‘Dinner Guest-Me’ each poet uses their poetry as a means of confronting and challenging prejudice. In ‘Telephone Conversation’ by Wole Soyinka, a phone conversation takes place between an African man and a very artificial lady about renting out a room. When the lady finds out he is African she becomes very prejudiced and racist towards him. Similarly ‘Dinner Guest-Me’ by Langston Hughes is about a black man going to a dinner party where he is the only coloured person there, like he is the ‘token black.’ Anger and a sense of humour are shown in both the poems. In ‘Telephone Conversation’, theShow MoreRelatedEssay about The Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka1009 Words   |  5 PagesThe Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka The Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka is a poem thats title is very casual and straight forward. The poems title shows the reader that what they are meant to read is realistic and free flowing. Like most poems there is a general theme that is carried on from start to end. The Telephone Conversation has two main obvious themes; these are racism and the lack of education and understanding that some people may haveRead MoreEssay about Commentary on Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka542 Words   |  3 PagesCommentary on Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka Wole Soyinka recollects vividly in Ake Mrs. Huti talking about white racism. He was thus mentally prepared to cope with the racism before he left for England. The race problem which has been treated with levity in the immigrant poems is treated from the poet’s personal experience in â€Å"Telephone Conversation.† â€Å"Telephone Conversation† involves an exchange between the black speaker and a white landlady. This poem more than any other is Read MoreComparing Sonnys Lettah by Linton Kwesi Johnson who is West Indian and Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka642 Words   |  3 PagesComparing Sonnys Lettah by Linton Kwesi Johnson who is West Indian and Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka Works Cited Missing The poems I have studied are Sonnys Lettah by Linton Kwesi Johnson who is West Indian and Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka. The theme of both of the poems is based on racism. The language used in both of the poems is Standard EnglishRead MoreThe Horrors of Society Illustrated in ‘Telephone Conversation’ by Wole Soyinka and ‘Prayer Before Birth’ by Louis Macneice1091 Words   |  5 PagesIn ‘Telephone Conversation’ we have a telephone conversation between a black man who wants to rent a room, from a white woman. We see that society is ignorant and racist. ‘Prayer Before Birth’ is a poem addressed to God from the point of view of an unborn baby who is scared to go into society. They both have negative views of society. In ‘Prayer Before Birth’ society is presented as scary. The narrator is pleading and says ‘I fear’. She (no gender is specified as it is meant to symbolize all ofRead More Prejudice in Telephone Conversation and Dinner Guest-Me Essay747 Words   |  3 PagesPrejudice in Telephone Conversation and Dinner Guest-Me In the two poems, ‘Telephone Conversation’ and ‘Dinner Guest-Me,’ each poet uses their poetry as a means of confronting and challenging prejudice. In ‘Telephone Conversation’ by Wole Soyinka, a phone conversation takes place between an African man and a very artificial lady about renting out a room. When the lady finds out he is African she becomes very prejudiced and racist towards him. ‘Dinner Guest-Me’ by Langston Hughes is aboutRead More Racism in Amistad, To Kill a Mocking Bird, and Telephone Conversation1794 Words   |  8 PagesThe texts To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee, Amistad directed by Steven Spielberg and Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka explore the issue of racism. These three texts focus on prejudice, discrimination, bias, behaviour and attitude revolving around the issue of discrimination because of the coulour of ones skin and the cultural and social attitudes past on from one generation to another. Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel set in the southern states of the USA in the 1930’s, a time thatRead MoreThe Telephone Conversation-a Summary.1705 Words   |  7 Pages* Telephone conversation  is about an African man who wishes to rent an apartment and so has phoned the landlady to inquire. Once the landlady answers the man decides he must confess, as if he has committed a crime, about his nationality as the persona in the poem is well aware of the wide spread prejudice against people of African descent and feels he must get the fact out of the way. However, unaware of the extent of the landlady s ignorance, he is shocked and annoyed by her cold, inpersonalRead More Comparing Two Poems about Prejudice Essay579 Words   |  3 PagesComparing Two Poems about Prejudice The poems Telephone Conversation, by Wole Soyinka and You Will Be Hearing From Us Shortly, by U A Fanthorpe are both about prejudice. The former poem is to do with racial prejudice and the latter is to do with social prejudice. The two poems are different in many ways. The first poem is an application for accommodation and the second poem is a job interview. Soyinkas poem is a Dialogue within a monologue where as Fanthorpes poem is just a monologueRead MoreEssay Prejudice in To Kill A Mockingbird Telephone Conversation1177 Words   |  5 Pagesprejudice as a learned, preformed, and unsubstantiated judgment or opinion about an individual or a group, either favorable or unfavorable in nature. Through the study of the book, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and the poem Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka, ones understanding of prejudice and what makes up prejudice changes considerably for what could be perceived as for the better or for the worse. Being ignorant of what is happening or not knowing and properly understanding what prejudiceRead More Racism in Cullens Incident and Soyinkas Telephone Conversation929 Words   |  4 PagesRacism in Cullens Incident and Soyinkas Telephone Conversation nbsp; The poemnbsp; Incident, by Countee Cullen, deals with the effect racism has on a young black child vacationing in Baltimore.nbsp; The child is mistreated by a white child and disturbed in his innocence so much that after spending seven months in Baltimore, this is all he remembers.nbsp; A different poem,nbsp; Telephone Conversation, by Wole Soyinka, also deals with this issue, but from a different perspective.nbsp;