Compare and Contrast of Two Poems That Focus on Racism

COMPREHENSION- "TELEPHONE CONVERSATION" AND "ON THE SUBWAY"

"Telephone Conversation" by Wole Soyinka and "On the Subway" by Sharon Olds

Geoffrey Akpablie

These poems analyze racism and racist perspectives between whites and blacks during the last five decades. Racism is depicted in this poem from several different perspectives, through both, the viewpoints of black as well as the white people. The poems demonstrate how widespread the phenomenon of racism is, and how the individuals are so intolerant of others of different colors and the different ways in which some people are trying to view racism. The issue of racism is explored by the poems in two ways, the first is the way ordinary people see it, and the second is how politics molds the view of racism. The analysis of the poems will be done to understand how a biased viewpoint can not only plague the kids into over thinking and over reaching but also plagues it to be authoritatively judgemental.

The poem "Telephone Conversation" by Nigerian poet Wole Soyinka, is based on the author's thoughts on the stereotypes taht exist about African or black people in a scenario where such people were looking for a respectable accommodation. When Soyinka writes on how he would tell the owner of the house that he is African, he uses terms such as "I warned" and "self-confession," since he knows what the landlady's response would be through experience. The landlady, asks him how dark his skin color is, and this angers Soyinka, he however uses words such as "Red pillar-box and Red booth" wittingly to answer the lady. This use of wit shows a possible counter for excessive stereotyping in the modern world. The use of color red is not only describe his color but it also depicts his shame, anger and embarrassment towards the question he was asked. However, Soyinka then maintains his moral high ground with the landlady through his use of a combination of wit and humor. He rhetorically asks the woman if by her question she meant his skin color was as white as "milk chocolate" and then answers that his color was "West African sepia," a description which further astonishes the woman. He then sarcastically asks of the landlady to not only examine his exterior skin color but to also see the sole of his feet and the palm of his hands which were of the same color as hers so at make her realize some of the similarities that make both of them human; perhaps hoping that if the wit didn't counter the discrimination, then maybe the similarities would (Gupta, 2015).

The poem "On the Subway" was written by Sharon Olds. Unlike Soyinka's which was based in England, this one is based in the United States. "On the Subway" is about Olds' stereotyping a black kid to be a mugger. In her description in the poem, she writes that the boy had a "casual cold look of a mugger." However, it is her fear of being mugged and of people of color that convinces her of the stereotype. She further describes the boy as wearing black sneakers with white laces that formed a complex pattern against the black color of the shoes, almost like scars; And also that the boy was wearing red. The black boy in Olds' poem could be wearing red to show his anger towards how the rest of the world that was stereotyping him, similar to how Soyinka uses the word red to show anger. Or it could simply be that the boy wearing red was a mere chance of choice i. e. maybe he liked the color or maybe he liked the style of the shirt. This possibility, however, would only be considered by an unbiased mind, not a racist. This, nevertheless, further drives Olds into panic as she starts imagining what the boy could do to her, the scars that he could do unto her, causing her blood to be exposed on her body, like the red piece of clothing that the boy was wearing. Olds fears the boy just because of his skin color, for all she knows the boy could be the most harmless person in the world. She is also very direct in the way she depicts racism, in one instance, she says he is black and she being white then she has to, without particularly trying, benefit from his darkness. She further writes that the boy, by being of black skin absorbs the murderous beams of the America's heart, in the same way black cottons absorb and hold the heat of the sun. She compares blacks to black cotton and whites to the sun. She is, however, somewhat sympathetic to the plight of black people as she remarks of "how easy her white skin makes her life" at their expense and how the boy could easily snap her life across his knee like a stick, similar to the way his back was being broken by the whites.