It is as if both Clara and Obi's language of the heart is the language of home. It is interesting to note that Obi's name is Ibo spelled backward. Perhaps this is to say that Obi's world is turned upside down. While in England he is a Nigerian living in England, and while in Nigeria he is a young man belonging to a generation that is caught between cultures.
Another important section of this chapter is when Macmillan and Obi are talking over drinks. Macmillan is English and going to Nigeria so he must be involved somehow in the colonial government, unless of course he is merely a tourist. Nevertheless, he is not like the arrogant, imprudent "Mr. Green." He is curious, and he asks Obi many questions regarding what he has studied and what his name means. But he does not seem to look down on Obi. Obi does seem, however to be, understandably, defensive at one point. For instance when Macmillan asks him what he studied in London, Obi wants to know why he is asking this question. It is also in this section that Obi's age comes to the fore: at this point in the novel Obi is twenty-five and Clara is about twenty-three, according to Obi's guess.
Chapter four No Longer At Ease highlights the differences between Obi and his fellow countrymen on his return from England. First, there are the mistakes Obi makes at his reception. First he arrives informally dressed and then he speaks in an informal English. Obi does not realize that he must dress a certain way and because it is hot, he simply wears short sleeves. He speaks English with less formality (an English of "is" and "was") because he is used to the language, and it is not strange to his tongue. Obi has gone away for just under four years, and it is apparent that there are things he has forgotten, rules he has missed out on learning, and discrepancies in his and his countrymen's beliefs and customs.
There is also the issue of how others treat him because of his English education.
