Besides the colours of the skin, there are other colours, namely red and gold.
Firstly, in this poem, red signifies the persona’s anger effectively contained in him upon realising that the landlady he was talking to was being racist and prejudiced against him, an African. We can see this as the persona heard the landlady ask him how dark his skin was, implying mockery. This has caused persona to feel insulted and to see red.
Secondly, the gold mentioned by the persona refers to his impression on the landlady. He described the landlady as ‘lipstick coated, long gold-rolled Cigarette-holder pipped’. What he means that he believes that the landlady is well-to-do due to the income generated from collecting rent, thus could afford gold and other accessories.
Therefore, these colours other than those describing skin colour help to give a better perception of the situation in the poem.
2. What does the dialogue in this poem reveal about the two characters?
The dialogue in the poem shows that the persona is actually well-mannered, whereas the landlady is rather crude.
The persona, I believe, has been raised to respect others since young. In the first stanza, the persona actually confessed that he is an African so that the landlady could have the chance to think twice before letting the persona rent the apartment. After which he remained silent for the landlady to absorb that shock, what he described as “Silenced transmission of Pressurized good-breeding”. Throughout the whole poem, he also addresses the landlady as madam. All these suggest that the persona has been brought out well by his parents to be courteous. Either that, he is following tradition, that dark-skinned people are inferior to those with white skin.
On the other hand, the landlady is extremely rude and disrespectful. In the whole conversation, the landlady spoke in a loud voice. “Her assent was clinical, crushing in its light Impersonality.” She kept asking how dark the persona was, an insult to the persona and an invasion of his privacy. This also shows that the landlady is prejudiced against the Africans and the Afro-Americans and she welcomed the fact that white-skinned people were the superior class.
3. The poet dramatises a battle, who wins finally and why?
In my opinion, the persona won the battle.
Though he was insulted by the landlady through and through, he maintained his composure and answered the landlady’s questions as if they were a joke. He even managed to insult the landlady that his skin colour was an array of colours, like peroxide blonde, brunette and raven black. When he asked the landlady “to see for herself”, he was implying that if she asked him over so that she could take a good look at him, he was already considered a tenant, as stated in the first stanza, he did not want a wasted journey. She also had to look at his butt as he mentioned it over the phone. This incited the landlady’s rage, thus winning the ‘campaign’.
Thus, I believe that the persona won as he was able to rebut in a subtle manner, and, in a way, trying to push the insults back to the landlady.
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