The poem is about a telephone conversation between the poetic persona wanting to rent an apartment from an English Landlady and she completely alters her attitude towards him after he reveals himself to be a black African. In my view, I perceive that the colours signify racism between blacks by whites. The whites having the thinking in which they are superior and the blacks are of low status and a rank below them. The landlady was then reluctant to rent the flat to the narrator. This is clearly visible from the landlady being "Silence" with "Silenced transmission of pressurized good-breeding". She also ask whether he was light or very dark. Throughout the whole poem, the words "dark" and "light" were repeated and this clearly shows that the man was being discriminated by the landlady just because he is a black. The metaphor "plain or milk chocolate"was also used to give the landlady a rough idea of the shade of skin colour the narrator has. The poet was trying to show a clear distinction between the narrator and the landlady to tell readers the very existence of racism in America. The colours also shows that the narrator was a black and that he was not pleased by being discriminated . This can be seen from the incident where the narrator kept explaining that he was not really that black. "Facially, I am brunette, but madam, you should see the rest of me. Palm of my hand, soles of my feet are a peroxide blonde." tells us that the narrator was trying to explain to the landlady that he was not entirely black.
The colour red in the story is used to represent the fury of the narrator. "Red booth. Red pillar box. Red double-tiered omnibus squelching tar" tells us that the narrator was getting really angry with the landlady as she refused to rent the flat to the narrator and she kept asking whether he was dark or light. The narrator was left with no choice but to reveal his skin colour in the end. At that point he was already very angry with the landlady for looking down on blacks. As red means anger, the poet's repetitive usage of red expresses the narrator's anger. Although it is hidden with seemingly polite language, a glimpse of the speaker's anger appears in the quick pauses in between the conversation.
The colour gold signify the elegance of the landlady. "long gold-rolled cigarette-holder pipped" tells us that the poet depicts the landlady to be a respectable person as gold signifies wealth and elegance and beauty. The poet is trying add a sense of irony to the poem by describing the landlady as a respectable lady even though she was racist against blacks. The poet associated gold with other descriptions like "good-breeding," and "lipstick coated" voice to describe her wealth and elegance but these words in which are used to describe her wealth are neutral in regard to her personal character, but allow that she could be a good person.
In conclusion, the poet used colours like red, black and gold to describe the narrator and the landlady. Black was used to describe the racism in the poem and red to describe the narrator's anger while gold to describe the landlady's wealth and elegance, telling the readers she might be a good person even though she was racist towards blacks.
Q2) What does the dialogue in this poem reveal about these two characters?
This poem is strong evidence that there is discrimination between blacks and white. The landlady in the poem was described as a polite and nice person but when she realised the narrator was a black, she was becoming reluctant and continuously questioned the narrator whether he was very dark and this shattered her good image to the readers.
Their dialouge revealed their skin colour. The poet revealed he was an African right at the start of the poem and it tells the readers that he was a black. The landlady paused in the telephone conversation when she knew he was a black and this would create suspicion that she was not a black but of a different skin colour."Silence. Silenced transmission of pressurized good breeding.". After the pause she asked how dark the narrator was and this further creates a visual image to the readers that the landlady was not a black. The narrator and the landlady was talked about skin colour instead about the rental of the apartment throughout the entire poem. "ARE YOU DARK? OR VERY LIGHT" was repeated throughout the whole poem and it clearly proven that the landlady was a white and she was shallowly being racist towards the narrator.
Their dialouge revealed their characteristics. The landlady was described as a polite, well-bred woman although she was shown shallowly being racist. The landlady was actually not very cruel towards the narrator in their dialouge, she was just asking about his skin colour. She did not use any horrible words to describe the narrator. Her repetitive usage of dark and light tells us so and she was attempting not to harm the narrator's feelings. Whilst, the narrator was genuinely apologetic for his skin color, even though he need not be sorry for something which he was born with and has no control over at all. He was trying to explain to the landlady about his skin colour throughout the poem. "Facially, I am brunette, but madam, you should see the rest of me. Palm of my hand, soles of my feet are a peroxide blonde. Friction, caused —Foolishly madam — by sitting down, has turned my bottom raven black — One moment madam!" — sensing her receiver rearing on the thunderclap. About my ears — "Madam," I pleaded, "wouldn’t you rather see for yourself?" tells us so. In this poem, I can see that the narrator was an intelligent person by his usage of high diction and quick wit, not the savage that the landlady assumed he was because of his skin color. All of these discrepancies between what appeared to be and what really was created a sense of verbal irony that helped the poem display the ridiculousness of racism.
In conclusion, their dialouge revealed their skin colour and characteristics. The landlady was a white and the narrator was a black. The landlady was actually a nice landlady and did not meant to be racist. Maybe at that time whites were not supposed to rent flats to blacks. The narrator was shown to be an intelligent person.
Q3) This poem exaggerates a duel between the two where the narrator was trying to rent a flat and the landlady was reluctant because of his skin colour.
He makes the situation complex by saying the difference in colours of the different parts of his body and most important of all, he stated the colour of his bottom which is seriously disgustful.
Their dialouge revealed their skin colour. The poet revealed he was an African right at the start of the poem and it tells the readers that he was a black. The landlady paused in the telephone conversation when she knew he was a black and this would create suspicion that she was not a black but of a different skin colour."Silence. Silenced transmission of pressurized good breeding.". After the pause she asked how dark the narrator was and this further creates a visual image to the readers that the landlady was not a black. The narrator and the landlady was talked about skin colour instead about the rental of the apartment throughout the entire poem. "ARE YOU DARK? OR VERY LIGHT" was repeated throughout the whole poem and it clearly proven that the landlady was a white and she was shallowly being racist towards the narrator.
Their dialouge revealed their characteristics. The landlady was described as a polite, well-bred woman although she was shown shallowly being racist. The landlady was actually not very cruel towards the narrator in their dialouge, she was just asking about his skin colour. She did not use any horrible words to describe the narrator. Her repetitive usage of dark and light tells us so and she was attempting not to harm the narrator's feelings. Whilst, the narrator was genuinely apologetic for his skin color, even though he need not be sorry for something which he was born with and has no control over at all. He was trying to explain to the landlady about his skin colour throughout the poem. "Facially, I am brunette, but madam, you should see the rest of me. Palm of my hand, soles of my feet are a peroxide blonde. Friction, caused —Foolishly madam — by sitting down, has turned my bottom raven black — One moment madam!" — sensing her receiver rearing on the thunderclap. About my ears — "Madam," I pleaded, "wouldn’t you rather see for yourself?" tells us so. In this poem, I can see that the narrator was an intelligent person by his usage of high diction and quick wit, not the savage that the landlady assumed he was because of his skin color. All of these discrepancies between what appeared to be and what really was created a sense of verbal irony that helped the poem display the ridiculousness of racism.
In conclusion, their dialouge revealed their skin colour and characteristics. The landlady was a white and the narrator was a black. The landlady was actually a nice landlady and did not meant to be racist. Maybe at that time whites were not supposed to rent flats to blacks. The narrator was shown to be an intelligent person.
Q3) This poem exaggerates a duel between the two where the narrator was trying to rent a flat and the landlady was reluctant because of his skin colour.
He makes the situation complex by saying the difference in colours of the different parts of his body and most important of all, he stated the colour of his bottom which is seriously disgustful.
In his words, sarcasm is oozing out. He is using his wits which the landlady lacks to perplex her. She is a failure as she is unable to grasp the hidden meaning behind it and the sarcasm when he stated the colour of his bottom and she did not understand the hallucianation. The man uses deception on the woman when he said "wouldn't you rather see it for yourself" where "it" refers to the man's bottom. This is insulting as he is asking the woman to look at his black bottom which accordingly, is due to friction. The man succeeds in being sarcastic and played around with the feeling and making fun of the woman that has a pea brain
In conclusion, the man wins because he leads the ignorant woman into a trap which he set to trick the woman. Her discrimination against blacks actually leads her to being mocked and trick so the black man was the ultimate victor.
In conclusion, the man wins because he leads the ignorant woman into a trap which he set to trick the woman. Her discrimination against blacks actually leads her to being mocked and trick so the black man was the ultimate victor.
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