Near the beginning of the novel, Isabel tries to explain to Ralph why she is so drawn to her friend Henrietta, using imagery and personification in the process:
“I like the great country stretching away beyond the rivers and across the prairies, blooming and smiling, and spreading till it stops at the green Pacific! A strong, sweet, fresh odour seems to rise from it, and Henrietta—pardon my simile—has something of that odour in her garments.”
[...]
“I’m not sure the Pacific’s so green as that,” [Ralph] said; “but you’re a young woman of imagination. Henrietta, however, does smell of the Future—it almost knocks one down!”
As the imagery in this passage makes clear, Isabel associates Henrietta with not only American values but also American landscapes—“the great country stretching away beyond the rivers and across the prairies, blooming and smiling” with “a strong, sweet, fresh odour.” When Isabel states that Henrietta “has something of that odour in her garments,” she is using imagery to communicate that, in her mind, Henrietta represents her favorite American qualities, which, as her descriptions suggest, are centered on freedom and endless expansion.
Ralph’s response builds off of Isabel’s imagery to communicate his lack of regard for these same American values. The first part of his response(“I’m not sure the Pacific’s so green as that”) shows that he doesn’t think as highly of the United States as Isabel does. The second part (“Henrietta, however, does smell of the Future—it almost knocks one down!”) signals that, while he acknowledges Henrietta’s modern American qualities (such as prioritizing individual liberty and doing whatever she pleases), he isn’t necessarily fond of them.
