Linda's declaration of love is made entirely in terms of possession, ownership and rulership. It is one of the clearest indications of her allegorical role representing lawful society and property. In contrast to Giselle, who flirts with everyone equally, Linda's love is based on such a principle of exclusion as to erase everyone else from the earth. Her line "Nothing has changed" carries a chilling reassurance in the continuation of history as it has always been, with the People firmly bonded to the oppressive society that they themselves make possible ("The world belongs to you, and you let me live in it").

The speech is "torturing" to Nostromo because it is the wrong girl, of course, but also because it represents exactly the oppressive system he is trying to reject.