Houdini’s uncomfortable suit sounds like a costume, as if he’s trying to dress the part of respectable New Rochelle resident even though he isn’t one. The overstuffed and overwhelming décor harks back to the Victorian Era with its stifled morals and narrow-minded views. The fact that Houdini—a self-made man of the new century—dislikes it suggests that both the style and the mentality it represents are about to become outdated. The novel’s present, this scene makes clear, is an era of exploration and change.