The Telephone Call

By Fleur Adcock
Adcock’s ‘The Telephone Call’ humorously navigates the illusion of luck, emphasizing life’s experiences
over material wealth.

‘The Telephone Call’ by Fleur Adcock is about a telephone conversation between the poetic persona and
the “Universal Lotteries”. From the title itself, it becomes clear that using “the” instead of “a” before
“telephone conversation” has a meaning behind it. This conversation has some importance in the poet’s
life. It might have changed her or might be a memorable moment in her life. However, the poem’s
simplicity and the use of humor keep one reading the poem till the end where a twist eagerly awaits the
readers.

Before reading The Telephone Call by Fleur Adcock, keep the following tips in mind:

Context: This piece mocks the lottery plans that represent the 20th century's distrust of consumerism
and media.

Focus on Tone: A humorous and ridiculous tone in the poem reveals to readers the critique of empty
promises.

Understand the Satire: Notice the contradiction that the 'prize' refers to an event instead of money
indicating the vapidity of consumerism.

Character Interaction: Pay attention to how the poem uses a discussion style; this grounding effect
makes its critique of contemporary deceit more powerful.

The Telephone Call

Fleur Adcock

They asked me 'Are you sitting down?

Right? This is Universal Lotteries,'

they said. 'You've won the top prize,

the Ultra-super Global Special.

What would you do with a million pounds?

Or, actually, with more than a million—

not that it makes a lot of difference

once you're a millionaire.' And they laughed.

'Are you OK?' they asked—'Still there?

Come on, now, tell us, how does it feel?'

I said 'I just . . . I can't believe it!'

They said 'That's what they all say.

What else? Go on, tell us about it.'

I said 'I feel the top of my head

has floated off, out through the window,

revolving like a flying saucer.'

'That's unusual,' they said. 'Go on.'

I said 'I'm finding it hard to talk.

My throat's gone dry, my nose is tingling.

I think I'm going to sneeze—or cry.'

'That's right,' they said, 'don't be ashamed

of giving way to your emotions.

It isn't every day you hear

you're going to get a million pounds.

Relax, now, have a little cry;

we'll give you a moment . . .' 'Hang on!' I said.

'I haven't bought a lottery ticket

for years and years. And what did you say

the company's called?' They laughed again.

'Not to worry about a ticket.

We're Universal. We operate

a Retrospective Chances Module.

Nearly everyone's bought a ticket

in some lottery or another,

once at least. We buy up the files,

feed the names into our computer,

and see who the lucky person is.'

'Well, that's incredible,' I said.

'It's marvellous. I still can't quite . . .

I'll believe it when I see the cheque.'

'Oh,' they said, 'there is no cheque.'

'But the money?' 'We don't deal in money.

Experiences are what we deal in.

You've had a great experience, right?

Exciting? Something you'll remember?

That's your prize. So congratulations

from all of us at Universal.

Have a nice day!' And the line went dead.

Summary

‘The Telephone Call’ by Fleur Adcock is about a short telephone conversation between the poet and
“Universal Lotteries”.

The poem is a short and witty telephonic conversation. The poet got a call from “Universal Lotteries”
and they told the poet she was one of the lucky winners. She was going to be a millionaire or multi-
millionaire within no time. Naturally, she was elated. Moreover, they told the poet of “giving way to”
her “emotion”. After a moment, she realized what they were talking about might be fake. That’s why
she told them when she would get the cheque or the money. Humorously, they answered they didn’t
deal with money. The experience was what they dealt in and “the line went dead”.

The Poem Analysis Take

In The Telephone Call,’ Adcock critiques the lottery scam; the poem's plot commentates on the market-
driven nature of emotional experiences. With its ridiculousness, the poem captures today’s culture in
which moments turn into commodities and leads the audience to wonder about authentic happiness
and what is merely an item. This contemporary method prompts readers to reflect and misunderstand
the essence of life and the environment influenced by consumerism.
Structure

‘The Telephone Call’ by Fleur Adcock consists of six stanzas each having 8 lines. It is a free verse poem
and there isn’t any rhyme scheme. The poem flows with the repartee of the poet and the lottery
company. Moreover, the poem doesn’t contain any specific meter scheme. This conversational poem
has mixed iambic-trochaic feet. The rising and falling internal rhythm of the poem depicts the mental
state of the poem that changes in each stanza of the poem.

Literary Devices

‘The Telephone Call’ by Fleur Adcock has several interrogations and lines of the poem get connected by
the use of enjambment. There is sarcasm as well as irony in this poem. As an example, “Or, actually,
with more than a million –” contains sarcasm. In the following lines, the poet uses irony. There are three
instances where the poet uses ellipsis. In the second stanza, there is a metaphor in “top of my head” and
a simile in the last line. There is a personification in “We buy up the files,/ feed the names into our
computer”. In the last stanza, the poet metaphorically compares the experience to a reward or prize. In
the last line, there is a synecdoche.

Analysis, Stanza by Stanza

Stanza One

They asked me “Are you sitting down?

Right? This is Universal Lotteries”

(…)

not that it makes a lot of difference

once you’re a millionaire.” And they laughed.

‘The Telephone Call’ by Fleur Adcock introduces the subject matter in the first four lines of the poem.
The poet received a call from the “Universal Lotteries” as she won the top prize in the “Ultra-super
Global Special” lucky draw. In the last four lines, they asked the poet what she would do with a million
or more than a million pounds. After saying that, they sarcastically added, “not that it makes a lot of
difference/ once you’re a millionaire.” Thereafter they laughed. So, from this section, the poet gives a
hint that she didn’t win any prize at all. They were just mocking her innocence.

Stanza Two

“Are you OK?” they asked – “Still there?

Come on, now, tell us, how does it feel?”

(…)

has floated off, out through the window,

revolving like a flying saucer.”

‘The Telephone Call’ by Fleur Adcock starts to unwrap the major themes of the poem from the second
stanza. The theme of appearance vs reality is present in the first few lines of the poem. There is a feud in
the poet’s mind about reality and the illusion of getting a million pounds. The news somehow entered
her subconscious mind and awakened the nagging and angry child called greed dossing in her heart. She
lost her senses and felt like her brain had floated off through the window. To present her state, she uses
an image of a flying saucer.

Stanza Three

“That’s unusual” they said. “Go on.”

(…)
It isn’t every day you hear

You’re going to get a million pounds.

In the third stanza of ‘The Telephone Call’, the base emotions in the poet’s start to dominate her rational
mind. She found it hard to express anything. Her throat went dry for the burning greed of her heart. The
apparent truth made her so vulnerable that she even became emotional. This section presents the
theme of turbulent human emotions. Thereafter, the person from the company knocked her defense of
self-control down and urged her to give way to her emotions. They wanted to take her to the heights of
chimeric elation for giving a life-changing lesson.

Stanza Four

Relax, now, have a little cry;

(…)

We’re Universal. We operate

a Retrospective Chances Module.

In the fourth stanza of ‘The Telephone Call’, the poet starts to come out of her hallucination. She
informed them that she hadn’t bought any lottery tickets in the past few years. Hearing the answer, they
laughed at the poet again. They assured her not to worry about a ticket as they operated a
“retrospective Chances Module”. However, the reference to the module might have raised questions
about their authenticity. The person on the call knew that. So the person described the process to the
poet in the next section.

Stanza Five

Nearly everyone’s bought a ticket

in some lottery or another,

I’ll believe it when I see the cheque.”

‘The Telephone Call’ by Fleur Adcock refers to the method using which Universal Lotteries selected
winners. Here, the poet presents how humans depend on luck rather than making it work for them.
That’s why nearly everyone, at any point in life, buys a lottery ticket to try their luck. The company
mentioned in the poem bought the old files from other lottery companies and entered the data in their
computer for a lucky draw. In the drawing, the poet’s name came out. But, the poet already recovering
from her hallucination. That’s why she told them she would believe it after seeing the cheque.

Stanza Six

“Oh”, they said, “there’s no cheque.”

(…)

Have a nice day!” And the line went dead.

In the last stanza of ‘The Telephone Call’ by Fleur Adcock, the poem takes an interesting twist that
breaks the last pillar of the poet’s greed. They replied they didn’t deal in money or such kinds of stuff.
“Experiences” were what they dealt with. This section presents how memorable experiences are much
more precious than money. So, that was her prize that she would not ever forget. After that, they
congratulated the poet and hung up the call.

Apart from that, the use of the word “dead” in the last line depicts how her baseless fascination fell
apart within a few moments. Moreover, there is alliteration in the phrase, “don’t deal”.

Historical Context

‘The Telephone Call’ by Fleur Adcock is a postmodern poem that depicts how a phone call plays with
human emotions. The person from the lottery company was just a catalyst. And, greed in the poet’s
heart, in reality, played with her senses. Moreover, through this poem, Adcock presents human
fascination with luck. That’s why they buy lottery tickets and waste their money with the dream that
they will win the prize someday.

Fleur Adcock

Adcock's poetry can be seen through ‘The Telephone Call’. It highlights her skill in merging comedy with
her artistry while also commenting on social issues and looking into her own life. Through her authentic
dialogue exposing fraudulent tactics Adcock mirrors her central interests in themes of deception and
representing human emotions.