Prejudice in Telephone Conversation and Dinner Guest-Me

Prejudice in Telephone Conversation and Dinner Guest-Me

In the two poems, ‘Telephone Conversation’ and ‘Dinner Guest-Me,’

each poet uses their poetry as a means of confronting and challenging

prejudice. In ‘Telephone Conversation’ by Wole Soyinka, a phone

conversation takes place between an African man and a very artificial

lady about renting out a room. When the lady finds out he is African

she becomes very prejudiced and racist towards him. ‘Dinner Guest-Me’

by Langston Hughes is about a black man going to a dinner party where

he is the only coloured person there, like he is the ‘token black.’

Anger and a sense of humour are shown in both of the poems. In ‘Telephone

Conversation’ the African man is angry at the “peroxide blond” and is

disgusted at her for being so rude and racist towards him, “HOW DARK?

ARE YOU LIGHT OR VERY DARK?” The capital letters emphasises the

loudness in her voice, whereas, in Langston Hughes poem the other

dinner guest are not being prejudiced to the only black dinner guest

directly. Although they would ask him “the usual questions that come

into white mind.” Here they are set apart from him as a different race,

“to be part of a Problem on Park Avenue at eight is not so bad.” He’s

angry because he is still part of the Negro Problem even though he is

with elegant, upper-class people. Hughes is laughing at the white

people complaining about not being black, “I’m so ashamed of being

white,” also at the democratic process and him self. He uses satirical

humour at the dinner party by poking at establishment. He acknowledges

that “I know I am the Negro Problem” and is aware they have to be

polite about him. Wole Soyinka uses sarcastic humour and makes fun of

the landlady when he wr...

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...ws plenty of anger from Wole Soyinka

towards the artifical, white, public. Hughes also seems to be mad at

the white populace and thoroughly benefits from poking fun at them. I

think Soyinka is trying to make a point of the phony and vulgar

individuals there are and draw everyone’s’ attentions to them, Hughes

is trying to make us realise just how obnoxious some can be to

different races, likewise to Soyinka. I believe both poets succeeded,

the poems did make me consider how prejudice many persons are.

In conclusion I prefer ‘Dinner Guest-Me’ by Langston Hughes because I

enjoyed the satirical humour he used in his poem and how he made the

‘token black’ stand out from all the other guests. Although I think

that both use their poetry well as a means of confronting and

challenging prejudice that was around back in the 1900s when the two

poems were written.