Essay | The Use of Irony in "The Telephone Conversation"

The Use of Irony in "The Telephone Conversation"

Summary: The poem "The Telephone Conversation", written by the African poet Wole Soyinka, depicts a West African man's attempt to rent an apartment from a white landlady and the landlady's refusal to grant his request based on his skin color. Three instances -- the speaker's "self-confession" about his skin color, the description of the landlady, and the speaker's use of high diction in making the landlady appear foolish -- exemplify Soyinka's use of irony to depict the absurdity of racism and create comical effects.

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