In his two books, Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God, Achebe uses a language I would like to refer to as 'Ibo in English'. Both these books share a rural side setting. They describe a relationship between society and individual. Achebe shows us how important communal life in Ibo was. We are presented with people who when supported by the society continue to live profitable and progressive lives, yet when they act as individuals, they meet with dead ends.

To show that the situation he is describing needs more than one person, Achebe in his two novels employs the style of conversation, which would be termed linguistically as casual-register. The casuality is seen through use of vocabulary that would be well known and recognised by everyone in the Ibo society. The imagery is local. (p. 2)

The adoption of casual conversational style gives the Oral literature taste, to Achebe's work. As a matter of fact, Achebe is recording the History of the Ibo. A lot of values found in the two novels mentioned above cannot be found in the society today….

Sometimes Achebe uses Ibo words with English sentences. Such form of style reminds us again and again that we are reading an Ibo story and that the Ibo vocabulary is not limited in explaining the Ibo Culture. (p. 3)

The ability to shape and mould English to suit character and event and yet still give the impression of an African story is one of the greatest of Achebe's achievements. It puts into the reader a kind of emotive effect, an interest, and a thirst which so to say awakens the reader. (pp. 3-4)

Achebe integrates character and incident through imagery that is tropical. Okonkwo's character is compared to roaring thunder; flamer of fire; as contrasted to Unoka the weakling who dies through ailing and Nwoye who is compared to 'Cold Ash', and a bowl of foo foo could throw him down. The positive abilities of Okonkwo show us the importance the Ibo attached to physical strength. It is through the use of proverb and similes that Achebe develops his theme on this subject. (p. 4)

Arrow of God has taken the same 'Ibo in English' dialogue-like style [as Things Fall Apart]. In fact Achebe's wise invention of the [District Commissioner's] book gives a setting for Arrow of God; because that is when the British Government has taken root in Nigeria and the D.C.'s book is being used for guidance in administration. It can be noted Achebe attaches a lot of importance to dialogue when he is representing a traditional Ibo society. Where dialogue fails, the means of communication is cut and destruction follows. Ezeulu's failure can be traced through the failure of proper dialogue between him and his own people and also between him and the white man. Achebe may be saying that a society that compromises at the expense of their own values leads to destruction. We see this through the destruction of Ezeulu who symbolically stands for the society of Umuoro, since he is their head, by virtue of being the priest of the great snake cult of the village. (p. 5)

Achebe changes style from that of dialogue in the two books to prose narration [in No Longer at Ease]. We find no fault in such a change, because his story and time in history also change. We expect language also to change, because language is very much a human phenomenon and entirely belongs to the shaping of the human beings.

The story takes the form of a flash back. It begins with Obi's conviction and then the rest of the book is the unfolding of the episodes that led to Obi's fate. The nature of the modernity and the urban setting of the story is seen through Achebe's use of pidgin English, which is characteristic of urbanization in West Africa. (p. 7)

In a way, I think what Achebe is emphasizing in the plot of No Longer at Ease is that intellectual insight without moral support to sustain it is not worthy the effort. In suiting language to character and time, I do not have a quarrel with Achebe, but as to the claims that he attained a piece of work equivalent to his novel, I would not say that. I find his protagonist Obi too weak. Achebe does not find strong enough words with which to present Obi. He makes him a weakling in every aspect….

Achebe maintains his use of Ibo Proverbs and Idioms which make the story interesting and moving. Accompanying the urban theme are the English social, political as well as christian axioms and maxims which all together add to Achebe's intelligence and mastery over the English language.

A Man of the People portrays Achebe the satirical-author. In this novel Achebe decides that he has been soft long enough to his people and now he must lash them if a word of mouth has failed. Achebe's use of irony in A Man of the People surpasses that of any other of his books. (p. 8)

Apart from the prose irony, another feature that Achebe employs in No Longer at Ease and A Man of the People is pidgin English. This is proper because pidgin is the lingua franca of the urbanized West Africans as contrasted with pure Ibo that Achebe uses in Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God. Achebe lets the pidgin suit the characters and the situation….

All the four novels of Achebe are full of proverbs and similes. Each of the proverbs is always said at an appropriate time to explain a situation. Achebe has been described as an author who has the talent of knowing where things are supposed to be and placing them there. Achebe uses proverbs to sound, reiterate or clarify a situation that he is describing. (p. 10)

All the proverbs have African environment and imagery. They not only symbolise the vitality of the Ibo life, but also the heroism of Achebe the translator. Achebe has the ability to create a sense of real life, real issues of the Ibo society in an impressive turn of English. He lets his words speak…. All in all, Achebe's manipulation of English language to suit situations he is describing raises him far above other African writers. By use of idioms, proverbs, emotive words, action, he manages to put vividness and memorable drama into his writing…. Achebe takes an account of interlingual differences of syntax and idiom; of the functions of style and theme and the emotions and ideas and associations which the Ibo would have. (pp. 13-14)