Compare and Contrast Poems of Controversy (Essay Sample)

Race relations
Name
Institution
Date
In both poems, Wole Soyinka’s “Telephone conversation” and “On the Subway” by Sharon Olds, both poets are comparing white society and black society. The white characters used in both poems seem to have a weak knowhow on treating blacks. They can be sees to at some point to in a way borrow their behavior form the societies around them. From the poems by the two poets, it is clear that racism is caused by ignorant notions built by the white society.
Racism is portrayed as the central theme in the two poems. There are other similarities in which the poems build on their themes. First, the white characters find themselves in positions they could not have avoided an interaction with the black characters. In the “Telephone conversation,” as the title depicts, their interaction happens through a telephone. The nature of her job (the white lady) as a landlady exposes her to such interactions. “On the Subway” presents a different but still unavoidable circumstance; the subway. Here, the white appear as an observer as he describes the black boy; his feet are huge, in black sneakers laced with white in a complex pattern like a set of intentional scars.
Irony has been used in both poems to develop the theme. In the “Telephone Conversation” it is ironical how the skin color rather than monetary gains is the basis of business for the landlady. Considerate she was, varying the emphasis — "ARE YOU DARK? OR VERY LIGHT?". Irony is symbolically used in “On the Subway” to show how easy the color of her skin makes life easy for her while on the other side it makes it hard for the young man. It is also very ironical and prejudicial that color in white societies determines how good you live rather than the effort you put towards life. “And he is black and I am white, and without meaning or trying to I must profit from his darkness.”
“Telephone Conversation” also sarcastically criticizes how knowledge is measured by the virtue of being white. He changes his tone when he realizes how insensitive the woman becomes by bounds of his color as he describes how dark he is "You mean — like plain or milk chocolate?"
The two poems however differ in their perspectives on white-black relations. The “Telephone Conversation” depicts personal day to day experiences gone through by blacks against the whites. For instance, he states at the beginning that “Nothing remained But self-confession.” Knowing the attitude of the whites against the blacks, he still continues to tell her she is black. What follows is an outrage in a mocking manner against the prejudices of the white lady. “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, cau...