In Wole Soyinka's poem "Telephone Conversation", the narrator of the poem, a dark African man is looking for an apartment. The whole poem is a conversation between him and a landlady. In this short poem, in order to confuse, mislead and frustrate the landlady, the narrator uses enough sarcasm and wit in response to the landlady's questions about his skin color .The conversation appears comical by using witty language and irony. In fact it reveals a profound issue of ridiculousness of racism and discrimination about black people. So I agree the man is the winner in this "Telephone conversation".
             At the beginning of this poem, instead of discussing about the location and the rent of apartment, the landlady is concerned about the skin color of her tenant. To response to her worry, the narrator gives her answer straightly "I am African". The word "self-confession" which used by narrator is a strong irony because he has nothing to confess except his nationality, and no reason to be sorry for something which he was born with. It shows how ridiculous for a black man apologize for his race. On the other hand, the narrator mentions the landlady is "good-breeding", "long gold-rolled cigarette-holder". All these description implies she is a wealthy and well-bred woman. But a series of questions about his skin color "HOW DARK?" "LIGHT OR VERY DARK?" make all these good impression gone. This sharp contrast shows that she is being very shallowly judgment even while she seems to be so pleasant.
             The landlady repeats her questions about how dark he is. The narrator gives a very clever answer. He says his face is "brunette", his hands and feet "peroxide blonde" and his bottom "raven black". Instead of giving a clear answer about his overall skin color, he gives the colors of different parts of his body. His answer makes the landlady more co...