Using the poems 'Telephone Conversation' By Wole Soyinka and 'Nothing Said' by Brenda Agard explain how the poets convey and challenge the message in their poems. Also compare the similarities and differences.

Using the poems ‘Telephone Conversation’ By Wole Soyinka and ‘Nothing Said’ by Brenda Agard explain how the poets convey and challenge the message in their poems. Also compare the similarities and differences.

Both ‘Telephone Conversation’ and ‘Nothing Said’ can be recognised from the outset as poems reflecting the injustice bestowed upon black British citizens in the late 20th century. Each poem contains material for protest, and displays a point the narrator believes strongly in, due to their black origin, however, both poems reflect upon different experiences. Whilst ‘Telephone Conversation’ exhibits the difficult situation in which many black men found themselves when seeking accommodation, ‘Nothing Said’ talks of a tragic disaster that occurred in 1981, affecting the entire black community. Both poems deal with colour racism in a separate, yet effective, manner and are compelling in their own individual way.

As the title suggests, Wole Soyinka’s poem is a ‘Telephone Conversation’ between a Black African man and a white landlady. The title clearly shows that the poem is about speech and communication, and, throughout, Soyinka demonstrates the frustration of the black man when seeking somewhere to live and facing racial abuse. This is a typical incident that confronted many black British citizens when seeking accommodation, and Soyinka obviously wants the reader to relate to this experience.

The poem is presumably set in London, with the narrator pleading his case from within a red telephone box, feeling quite outraged at the unjust comments which face him. The opening lines of the poem are direct and straightforward,

“The price seemed reasonable, location indifferent.”

The dismissive attitude in the opening lines is mirrored in the landlady’s character, showing ambiguity in Soyinka’s writing. The landlady, much like the location, is ‘indifferent’ and shows no compassion toward the African man. Sadness is experienced on behalf of the narrator, as he is treated dismissively by the landlady and is made to feel a sense of shame in his black African origins. He tells us “Nothing remained but self confession’, when in fact he should be allowed to celebrate he roots, not feel forced to ‘confess’ to his origins.

Repetition within the poem helps to reiterate points and place emphasis upon the awful situation that the narrator finds himself.

“Silence. Silence of pressurised good-breeding.”

The silence, which Soyinka emphasises at this point, is that of the landlady, as she coldly accepts the information that her proposed tenant is black. Her silence allows the reader to sympathise with the black narrator’s awkward situation, and creates a negative image of the landlady. Her ‘pressurized good-breeding’ shows that she is struggling to be polite due to the pressure and shock upon hearing the African man’s news.

“Madam I hate a wasted journey-I am African.”

The imagery that Soyinka uses to describe the landlady allows the reader to envisage her through the black man’s mind. He describes her as

“Lipstick coated, long gold-rolled cigarette-holder pipped”

This shows that he imagines her to be upper class and glamorous: a stereotypical image, displaying prejudice. This is perhaps a point that Wole Soyinka is inadvertently trying to demonstrate within “Telephone Conversation”; that prejudice is becoming more predominant within modern society.

Soyinka uses capital letters to emphasise the landlady’s questions,

“ARE YOU LIGHT? OR VERY DARK?”

and the use ...

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“Madam I hate a wasted journey-I am African.”

The imagery that Soyinka uses to describe the landlady allows the reader to envisage her through the black man’s mind. He describes her as

“Lipstick coated, long gold-rolled cigarette-holder pipped”

Soyinka uses capital letters to emphasise the landlady’s questions,

“ARE YOU LIGHT? OR VERY DARK?”

and the use of ellipses helps heighten the feeling of disgust at the landlady’s rude and arrogant nature, by accentuating her pauses. The narrator is depicted as incredulous, and the comment ‘I had not misheard’ reflects the reader’s own thoughts of astonishment at this appalling display of racism. The shock of the narrator is exhibited throughout the following sentences with Soyinka commenting on the surroundings, describing the buttons on the payphone as if contemplating ending the call.

“Button B. Button A.”

A clever play on words compares the conversation to the childhood game ‘hide and seek’,

“Stench of rancid breath of public hide-and-speak.”

Perhaps this reference to childhood refers to the immaturity and insensitivity of the landlady, which the black African would have hoped he would no longer encounter in adult life. The confused narrator observes his surrounding, with Wole Soyinka using repetition again to portray his bewilderment.

“Red booth. Red pillar-box. Red double-tiered omnibus squelching tar.”

Finally a realisation hits the black African, ‘It was real!” This short sharp sentence captures the narrator’s disbelief over the previous lines as he is hit with reality, causing the reader to pity the hopeless situation he is now left in.

The narrator becomes aware of how rude he is being by leaving the landlady’s question unanswered, showing his good manners in comparison to her rudeness and ignorance. The landlady once again questions the black African, this time sarcastically described as ‘considerate’, whilst her racist and insensitive attitude remains the same. Her words are described as ‘crushing’ and it is at this point that Soyinka shows a clear change in the narrator,

“You mean-like plain or milk chocolate?”

The narrator then goes on to banter with the landlady, playfully taunting the arrogant woman. Soyinka uses alliteration to depict the landlady’s thoughts,

“Silence for spectroscopic flight of fancy,”

This description allows us to see the landlady’s ignorant nature, and the narrator uses sarcasm and wit to seek revenge for the humiliating situation he has been placed in.

He comments on the fact that the areas of his body that are clearly visible to the landlady e.g. ‘palm of my hand’ are a lot lighter, ‘peroxide blond’, then the areas of his body which she cannot see e.g. ‘my bottom raven black’. Many of his comments are humorous and he appears to ridicule the landlady for her racist and discriminating attitude. Wole Soyinka displays the fact that racism should not be put up with in society and the black community should not be afraid to stand up for their rights. The landlady clearly believes that she is superior to the Black African, however in today’s society everyone is supposed to be treated as an equal.

The narrator realises in the concluding lines of the poem that his mockery of the landlady has offended her, and with the ‘receiver rearing’ he begs the landlady to meet with him,

“Madam wouldn’t you rather see for yourself?”

The reader is left unaware of how the poem concludes, but we feel grateful to the black narrator for refusing to stand for her ridiculous questioning and for defending his rights.

‘Nothing Said’, by Brenda Agard, displays the view of many black British citizens in the early 80’s, following the Deptford fires, which left lives devastated. The title sets the theme, stating the fact that speech is prohibited, and the opening lines create the atmosphere of a protest march, using rhyme to capture the reader’s attention. This use of rhyme does not continue throughout the poem, however the careful use of punctuation and language engraves the poem in the readers mind. Within the opening lines the reader quickly sympathises with the pain of the marchers,

“Until the pain goes away

we will march some more”

although we are yet to discover the cause of the march.

Within the second stanza, Agard reiterates her protest theme, using chants and bold lettering to create the image of a march,

“What do we want? JUSTICE

When do we want it? NOW.”

This emphasises the anger of the black community over this injustice, and creates imagery of a march by using simple statements. We are still yet to uncover the reason for the march, yet Agard clearly sets out to publicise the disgust felt. The third Stanza sheds light upon the awful disaster that has occurred, and, although Agard uses little detail in her writing, we are informed that members of the black community have died,

“We felt for our sisters and our brothers who had died.

We wanted that feeling to be carried worldwide”

These simple rhythmic statements carry a very clear message; that the black community wish to speak out about racial injustice.

The following lines inform us of the feelings of the black citizens, and the use of bold lettering heightens the message,

“THIRTEEN DEAD

NOTHING SAID”

This also attributes to the imagery of the march, and the reader could view this rhyming couplet as a chant. Agard goes on to talk about the publicity the march received; however there is a negative spin placed upon the protest by the newspapers, and the title “BLACK RAMPAGE” clearly depicts the controversy between the black and white members of society. Whilst the black community were merely trying to seek justice, the white community saw this as an act of misconduct and chaos. The pain and hurt of the black community is displayed in the following lines, with Agard choosing the violent word ‘slashed’ to describe the distress this bias headline has caused.

Agard next talks about the inquest, using two couplets to break up the outcome of the protest. After telling us

“We got our wish

An inquest”

The reader believes that justice will prevail and equality will reign within society. However, the following lines prove otherwise, with the verdict being ‘left open’. These lines are told in an angry manner, and the use of ellipses pauses the reader before discovering the outcome of the case. The break up of these lines perhaps represents the hope of the black community being destroyed.

The last stanza of the poem is exceedingly similar to the opening stanza, representing the fact that the black community still wishes justice to be done. Agard’s writing is ambiguous, as in these closing lines she says the black community will have to ‘march’ all their lives. This is a clever use of imagery to represent the fact that these people will constantly have to fight against racism and injustice. We are left feeling saddened by this injustice, and Agard’s writing accomplishes its goal of illustrating the pain felt following this unjust event.

Both ‘Telephone Conversation’ and ‘Nothing Said’ use free verse to display the prejudice that confronted black British citizens. This helps the poems to flow with the rhythm of speech which both poets wish to demonstrate. Wole Soyinka’s ‘Telephone Conversation’ is written in a single stanza, allowing the poets stream of consciousness to run alongside the dialogue that takes place. He uses enjambment and caesura to create speech like patterns, and includes complex language, for example

“surrender pushed dumbfoundment to beg simplification.”

This use of language gives the poem an intellectual and deep insight into the thoughts of black citizens when confronted with racism. Brenda Agard’s ‘Nothing Said’ does not give us this insight, but instead tells a factual story which affected many black people in the early 80’s. Agard uses a more typical poem structure within eight short stanzas, using rhyme to help her poem flow.

Punctuation is cleverly used to break up lines within ‘Telephone conversation’ whereas little punctuation is present in ‘Nothing said’. This is perhaps because Soyinka is trying to describe the narrator’s thoughts and feelings, whereas Agard wishes her poem to have a quick pace like that of the march. Both poets use ellipses to allow pauses for affect, and both poets use a range of both lower and upper case lettering. Agard uses this to emphasise points and heighten the reader’s incredulity, whereas Soyinka uses upper case letters in the landlady’s speech to highlight her rudeness.

Each poem contains alliteration to link points and capture the reader’s attention. Repetition of the word ‘we’ is used by Agard, creating a sense of togetherness and unity within the black community. Soyinka uses a range of wording and repetition, e.g. ‘silence for spectroscopic flight of fancy, till truthfulness’, creating an erythematic effect.

The tenses, which the two poems are set in, differ greatly. Whist ‘Telephone Conversation’ is an account in the present tense, ‘Nothing Said’ comments on a protest that occurred in the past, as well as the actions the black society is going to take in the future. Each poem uses separate tones to depict their anger at racial injustice. ‘Telephone Conversation’ uses wit and humour alongside sarcasm to create a resigned attitude, using speech in the first person. ‘Nothing Said’, however, uses angry bitter tones to convey the resentment felt by many black British citizens.

Overall I think that both poems are exceedingly effectual in their methods of conveying black views on racism, but each poem presents its opinions in a completely different and proficient manner. ‘Telephone Conversation’ requires analysis before it can be fully understood, as the narrator’s feelings are hidden amidst imagery. However, once the poem is fully comprehensible it has a very clear message about racism and is extremely effective at presenting the poet’s views on colour racism. ‘Nothing Said’ appears from the outset to be the clearer of the two poems. However it lacks detail, and unless background knowledge is known on the event the poem talks about, the full effect of the poem cannot be attained. Therefore I believe that ‘Telephone Conversation’ is the more effectual of the two poems providing a detailed view of a black Citizens opinion and leaving the reader astounded at the racism and discrimination present within society.

Laura Brayne.