An editor at Encyclopædia Britannica noted that "Okara translated directly from the Ijo language, imposing Ijosyntax onto English in 'order to give literal expression to African ideas and imagery. The novel creates a symbolic landscape in which the forces of traditional African culture and Western materialism contend... Okara's skilled portrayal of the inner tensions of his hero distinguished him from many other Nigerian novelists.". Okara's style exhibits the true nature of the power hungry individual.