How does Chris Cleave use imagery in Little Bee: A Novel?

Imagery:

"The English countryside stretched away to the horizon. Soft mist was hanging in the valleys, and the tops of the low hills were gold in the morning sun, and I smiled because the whole world was fresh and new and bright."

"Three weeks and five thousand miles on a tea ship—maybe if you scratched me you would still find that my skin smells of it."