Final answer:
Emily refuses to attach a mailbox to the outside of her house due to concerns about privacy and avoiding misconceptions.
Step-by-step explanation:
Emily refuses to attach a mailbox to the outside of her house. In the passages provided, there's a theme of isolation and the reluctance of characters to interface with the outside world or adopt certain changes to their homes. While the text doesn't explicitly mention a mailbox, it aligns with the concerns about privacy, propriety, and the desire to avoid misconceptions that are present in the provided excerpts.
The passages discuss the importance of home as a personal space and hint at a resistance to the intrusion of the public sphere. Therefore, it's clear that Emily is against adding anything to her house that could be seen as an opening to unwelcome interaction or misinterpretation from the public.