Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka

1. This poem is full of colours not just that of skin, what do you think these colours signify?

Ans: The black and white in the poem refer to the skin colour of the poet. The colour red in the poem refer to the anger that the poet feels when he realizes that the landlady is not going to rent him the place because he is African. The gold colour in the poem refer to the fact that the landlady is probably rich.



2. What does the dialogue in this poem reveal about these two characters?

Ans: The dialogue reveals that both the landlady and the narrator are educated and respectable. However, the dialogue reveals that the landlady is also racist, not renting the land to the narrator just because he is black. The narrator is also angry that the landlady is discriminating against him.

3. The poet dramatizes a battle, who wins finally and why?

Ans: The poet finally wins the battle. Although the landlady already decides not to rent the place to the poet because he is African, and the poet feels a bit sorry that he is black. the poet eventually wins. He ends by asking "Madam, wouldn't you rather
See for yourself?" It seems that the poet is asking the landlady to see his skin colour herself before deciding whether or not to rent the place to him, but he actually implied whether the landlady wants to see his bottom herself.