“The Telephone Call” composed by Fleur Adcock is a criticism of the lottery and the hope it creates in the stakers.
It reflects how the people that are involved in it feel and in the end, many hopes are dashed.
Adcock presents this with a telephone call from a lottery company to the speaker in the poem who has not bought a lottery ticket recently.
The callers explain the modus operandi of their company lottery and the speaker is said to have won the “top prize.” He is somehow convinced, but still skeptical to some extent.
He is expecting to be issued a check or paid in cash. Eventually, None comes his way; he gets “experience” as his prize.
About the Poet- Fleur Adcock
Fleur Adcock was born on the 10th of February 1934 in Auckland, New Zealand. Her father was Cyril John and her mother was Irene Robinson.
She spent much of her childhood in England because her parents moved to England during her early years.
Fleur Adcock attended the University of Otago where she studied Classics and later studied at the Victoria University of Wellington.
She worked as an editor and librarian after which she established herself as a poet.
She became a famous poet in 1960 and she published her first poetry collection, “The Eye of the Hurricane,” in 1964.
Her writings address the themes of relationships, identity, and the complexity of human emotions.
Her writings earned her several accolades and awards which include “The Inner Harbour” (1979), “Time Zone”(1991), and “Glass Wings” (2013). “The Telephone Call” appears in her collection titled “The Incident Book ” published in 1986.
The Poetic Meanings of Some Difficult Words and Expressions in the Poem
Tell us, how does it feel? – Tell us how you feel
I’m finding it hard to talk- I am short of words
Of giving way to your emotions- To tell us how you feel
A retrospective Chances- Gathering past records
And the line went dead- They terminated the telephone call.
The Telephone Call – Stanza by Stanza Analysis
The Telephone Call is a six-stanza poem composed by Fleur Adcock.
The first stanza opens with a mysterious phone call to the speaker from the “Universal Lotteries” as claimed by the caller.
The identity of the callers is not revealed but they are likely to be the officials of the “Universal Lotteries.”
The identity of the speaker and the sex is not also revealed in the poem. In this analysis, the speaker is considered a male because males take part in lottery contests more than females.
The callers asked the speaker whether he was sitting down. This statement indicates that the speaker should prepare for a lengthy conversation and likely a shock.
The caller then informs the speaker that he has won their grand prize (Jackpot) in the “Ultra-super Global Special.”
The conversation continues, and the speaker is told the worth of the prize he wins. They then ask him how he would spend a million pounds or more.
They said with amusement that the distinction does not matter when the amount of money is much.
The conversation continues in stanza three. The caller asked the speaker if he was fine. The caller then asked him to share his emotions; how he feels.
The speaker responds that he can’t believe it. The caller then replies that that’s the response of everybody. They urge the caller to tell them how he feels.
The speaker then tells them that he is light-headed and feels as if his upper head has flown off through the window. The head is whirling like a spaceship.
The callers then say that it is an unusual and strange feeling. They told the speaker to continue sharing his feelings.
The speaker then says he finds it difficult to talk as his throat is dried. His nose itches as if he wants to sneeze or burst into tears.
The callers then assure the speaker not to feel embarrassed in sharing his feelings. They remind him that it’s a rare occasion he would hear that he is becoming a millionaire.
The callers, in the fourth stanza, urge the speaker ” hang on” to shed tears for some moments. But the speaker tells them to wait and says that he bought a lottery ticket a long time ago.
He skeptically asks for the name of the company again. The question amuses them and tells the speaker not to worry about buying tickets or not.
They said their company is “Universal,” and they use a “retrospective chances module.” This is explained in the next stanza.
“The retrospective chances module” entails purchasing the files of all past lottery entries and a computer program is used to choose the winner.
This means that everybody that has bought tickets for the lottery in the past is qualified for the Universal lottery game. The speaker says it is wonderful and expresses his surprise.
He adds that he can’t believe it until he sees the check or the monetary award. The callers say they are not sending any checks or money.
They say that their lottery only gives out “Experiences.” Something exciting to keep on remembering.
They claim that the phone call the speaker just had is an exciting and memorable experience.
They declare to him that that is the prize he won. The callers congratulate the speaker, tell him to have a nice day, and hang up.
The Telephone Call- Themes
Conversation: The poem is a conversation about the use of a phone between the speaker and the callers.
The call is put through by the “Universal Lotteries” representatives to inform the speaker that he is the winner of the top prize among the rest.
Skepticism: The speaker is skeptical about the information received from the callers that he has won the top prize in the company’s lottery contest.
He is in doubt because he has not bought any ticket recently to participate in any lottery. That is why he said in the second stanza, “I said “I just…I can’t believe it!”
He also asks for the name of the company again for more clarification because he is sure that he hasn’t bought any tickets recently.
“I haven’t bought a lottery ticket
for years and years. And what did you say
the company’s called?”
The speaker still doesn’t believe it even when he is told the company’s name. He says until he sees the check or the money.
“I still can’t quite…
I’ll believe it when I see the check”
…”But the money?”
Happiness: There are indications that the speaker is happy. With the insistence of the callers attributing a million pounds to him, though skeptical about the whole thing.
We can see that he is emotionally happy judging from his response and what he says going on in his body chemistry.
“I feel the top of my head
has floated off, out through the window,
revolving like a flying saucer.”
When they tell him to go on, he says,
“I said I am finding it hard to talk.
My throat’s gone dry, my nose is tingling.
I think I’m going to sneeze – or cry.”
These are indications that the speaker is happy with the information from the callers. Happiness leads him to feelings of emotions.
Emotion: According to the English dictionary, emotion is a person’s internal state of being and involuntary physiological response to an object or situation, based on or tied to physical state and sensory data.
The caller’s emotion has been raised here as a result of the information given to him by the callers.
Although, he is partially convinced later but not completely. That’s why he says he would believe it when he sees the check or money.
Hope: The speaker is happy and emotional and his hope for a prize is raised. But in the end, the hope is dashed as he is disappointed
He hopes to be given a check or cash. To his amazement, the callers tell him that the company doesn’t give checks or cash but experience.
“We don’t deal in money.
Experiences are what we deal in.”
Experience: The speaker receives a call from the “Universal Lotteries” that he is the top winner of the company’s lottery contest.
He is told that he is a million pounds richer and asks how he feels. At this stage, the caller is already expecting a check or money.
But the callers say the company only deals in experience as their prize which the speaker just received according to them. They congratulate him for a great experience and hang up.
“We don’t deal in money.
Experiences are what we deal in.”
You’ve had a great experience, right?
That’s your prize…”
The experience the speaker just had doesn’t add any value to him; it is a harrowing one. He was supposed to be happy and be on top of the world after the conversation.
It is clear at the end that the speaker doesn’t have “a nice day” as wished by the callers. They hang up on him with a broken heart.
The Telephone Call- Poetic Devices
Conversation: The poem is a conversation between the speaker and the callers who are likely to be the officials of the”Universal Lotteries.”
The call gives information to the speaker that he is the winner of the company’s top prize. The callers then ask him how he feels about the news.
Repetition: Repetition is a literary device whereby a word, phrase, and expression are repeated in a literary work. There is a repetition of “they said” and “I said” several times in the poem.
This is so because the poem is a conversation between the callers and the speaker. It also shows that the conversation is being reported by the speaker.
Irony: The promise of a monetary prize the speaker is said to have won at the beginning of the poem turns to “experience” at the end.
“We don’t deal in money.
Experiences are what we deal in.”
You’ve had a great experience, right?
Exciting? Something you’ll remember?”
The experience the speaker has here is not a great one and it is not the one he will like to remember. It is a harrowing experience that he will like to erase from his thoughts for life.
What we have here is ironic as the opposite of what is said by the callers would be experienced by the speaker.
It is also ironic when the callers tell the speaker to “have a nice day.” It is indeed very glaring that the speaker doesn’t have a nice day because his hope of becoming a millionaire as promised is eventually dashed.
Simile: This is a literary device that compares two things with the use of “like” or “as.” It is used in the second stanza when the speaker explains how he feels.
“I said “I feel the top of my head
has floated off, out through the window,
revolving like a flying saucer.”
The speaker compares how he feels in his head with a flying saucer.
Alliteration: Alliteration is a figure of sound; a consonant sound is repeated at the beginning of two or more words in a line of a poem. It is used in lines 1, 3, 5, 9, 12, 17, 18, 19, 21, 24, 28, 29, 31, 41, 42, 43, 48.
Mood: This is the state of mind of the poet while composing the poem. The speaker is in a happy mood when he is given the information that he wins their “top prize.” He is happy because of the million pounds involved.
“I said I am finding it hard to talk.
My throat’s gone dry, my nose is tingling.
I think I’m going to sneeze – or cry.”
This goes on in his body because he is happy. But there would be a change in the mood when the prize changes. Instead of a check or money, the prize turns to “a great experience.”