Emily is stuck in both time and space never evolving in her views, or changing her interactions with wider society. This we see through various events in the story, the most prominent being her flat out refusal to pay her taxes. Other instances include her rejection of having a mailbox put up, and her slow acceptance of father’s passing. She has lost grip of reality and of those around her to the point, that she fails to realize that her most staunch defender, Colonel Sartoris, died close to a decade ago.