Madam and the Phone Bill
The poem "Madam and the Phone Bill" by Langston Hughes is a short poem regarding a woman talking to a telephone operator. The woman's name is Alberta, and her boyfriend (Roscoe?) calls a lot despite knowing the costly transaction. The operator requests that Alberta pay the bill, but she refuses to pay because she knows that her partner is cheating.
Langston Hughes incorporates irony and humor to reveal aspects of disingenuity in communication. The irony lies in the fact that while Alberta's boyfriend is calling from Kansas City to say he loves her, he is clearly being unfaithful. In a sense, the poem touches on the effects of technology in the world. This can be related to the present, where technology is extremely prevalent. With the rise of AI and other powerful technology, a lot of things aren't as they appear online, creating an illusion that pervades many areas of the world.
Alongside, the poem reveals the loneliness of Alberta. In the second half of the poem, it is seen that Alberta rants to the operator about her relationship. In response, the operator states that he/she does not care about her private affair. Alberta's loneliness can be extrapolated to society at the time, where black women were oppressed and speaking up was of no use, as they were constantly dismissed.
Through the short conversation, Langston Hughes is able to illustrate many aspects and struggles of black life. For instance, although Roscoe knows the long distance calls aren't free, he still calls without the intention of paying later. On one hand, this shows his infidelity towards Alberta, but it also shows his poor financial situation, which was prevalent through blacks and other minorities living in the US.
I liked how you connected the poem, which was written in the past, to a concept common to today: technology. You also did a good job looking at the historical context of the poem, as you talked about how the poem correlated with the racial/gender injustices going on during this time.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your thorough annotations and how you showed rhetorical devices to show the theme.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you were able to relate the poem to modern circumstances with AI and all. You also did a good job with identifying the issues that were presented in the poem like racism.
ReplyDeleteI like how you related this poem to current topics, and how you analyzed the poems historical correlations with racism.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you cleared up many aspects of the poem, I didn’t understand it at first but now things make a lot more sense.
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