The culture of the setting is essential to this story. What demonstrates the strong relationship between culture/setting and conflict in this story

Undoubtedly the setting of the story has a strong
connection with the culture because we are talking about the NEW South versus Emily's
OLD South. In her days, she used to belong to a family of aristocrats who had
connections in the country, and had left a mark onto society. However, those days were
gone and Miss Emily was left alone with no money, and only a remnant of what used to
be.

In that same token, the South continued to grow, way
ahead of Ms. Emily's beginnings, yet, Emily wouldn't have it. She was still stuck with
the times and the places gone by. And this is why Faulkner makes sure that he entices on
the descriptions of Emily's looks and the looks of Emily's house so that we, as readers,
can see the grand discrepancy between the past and the present.