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Daniel P Gagnon

Excelsior College

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The poems “Telephone Conversation” and “On the Subway” have a comparative theme.

The theme is that of the prejudices that people have based on skin color and how people perceive

someone based on how they are dressed. Prejudices come in all variations based on ethnic

backgrounds, countries of origin, color, religion, sex and age just to name a few. Often times

these controversial themes make for good stories in the form of poetry. I will be comparing and

contrasting the theme of prejudice in both of the stories.

The poem “Telephone Conversation” is written in free verse because it tells a story and

rhyming and set verses are not needed in order to get their point across. In this poem the writer

assumes that the landlord could discriminate based on the color of the caller’s skin when they

call to find out more about renting an apartment so the caller tells the landlord "I hate a wasted

journey - I am African" (Soyinka, 1963), in case the landlord doesn’t rent to people from Africa.

His suspicions are correct when the landlord confirms their suspicions by asking "HOW

DARK?" (Soyinka, 1963). All of the prejudicial questions and comment in this poem are written

in capitals to show the absurdity of the comment themselves.

In the poem “On the Subway” is also a free verse poem that exhibits prejudices based off

of color. The differences in these two poems is that in “Telephone Conversation” the prejudices

are implied because of the situation, that is, it is a telephone conversation. Neither person can see

the other so both of the prejudices are based on the conversation they are having and spoken out

loud. In the poem “On the Subway” the prejudices are in the first person and spoken in the main

characters mind. Another difference in the “Telephone Conversation” is the use of imagery

where writer describes how the caller believes the landlord to be upper class with the verse

“Lipstick coated, long gold-rolled Cigarette-holder pipped” (Soyinka, 1963). The use of long

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gold-rolled cigarette is the call describing the landlord as being better than himself and this

shows that the caller seems insecure and even ashamed of himself. He also captures the fury in

the callers mind by the verse “Red booth. Red pillar-box. Red double-tiered Omnibus squelching

tar” (Soyinka, 1963). This verse shows the sudden burst of anger he feels by seeing red and the

tires squealing makes in feel like he’s ready to let loose but instead uses his wit to silently mock

the landlord with the verse “"West African sepia"_ and as afterthought. "Down in my passport"

(Soyinka, 1963). This remark is a symbol that he should not be judged by the color of his skin or

what his passport says. “On the Subway” uses imagery but differently. The poem uses several

light and dark imagery as a theme for the poem when the writer uses the verses” And he is black

and I am white, and without meaning or trying to I must profit from his darkness” (Olds, 1987),

“the way he absorbs the murderous beams of the nation's heart as black cotton absorbs the heat

of the sun and holds it” (Olds, 1987) and “There is no way to know how easy this white skin

makes my life” (Olds, 1987). This imagery is of the mind of the white woman and the light and

dark battle going on in her mind. This battle is fed by the prejudice that is in her and represents

how she feels.

These two poems share a common theme but the way they present it are very different.

The tone of the poem are also different. In the “Telephone Conversation” the tone was light and

“On the Subway” has a dark one. These poems tell of the racism that was suffered at the hands of

a landlord and of a person on a subway just thinking of horrors someone may cause them. Both

of these are based on skin color and both mention light and dark which is the silent battle theme

of these poem and meant to show how absurd prejudices and racism are.

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References

Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka. (n.d.). Retrieved July 13, 2015.

Poetry Magazines - The best collection of poetry magazines online - Simon Armitage. (n.d.).

Retrieved July 13, 2015.