The implication of this need is that Miss Brill really has nothing going on in her life; she is not truly needed by anyone or cared about by anyone. In imagining that everyone and everything around her is a part of a grand, theatrical performance, she can also imagine that she plays an important role in something. The narrator says, "No doubt somebody would have noticed if she hadn't been there; she was part...
The implication of this need is that Miss Brill really has nothing going on in her life; she is not truly needed by anyone or cared about by anyone. In imagining that everyone and everything around her is a part of a grand, theatrical performance, she can also imagine that she plays an important role in something. The narrator says, "No doubt somebody would have noticed if she hadn't been there; she was part of the performance after all." She must imagine herself as a part of a fantastical performance because she isn't, in reality, a part of anything else.
Her expert eavesdropping skills likewise prove that she must listen to others' conversations because she, herself, has no one to talk to. "She had become really quite expert, she thought, at listening as though she didn't listen, at sitting in other people's lives just for a minute while they talked round her." No one actually talks to her. In fact, no one really even seems to notice her at all except for the rude boy who calls her a "stupid old thing" and suggests that she "keep her silly old mug at home." He doesn't even seem to be aware that she can hear him. Even the old man to whom she reads the newspaper four nights a week falls asleep when she visits. Miss Brill's existence is important to no one but herself, and so she imagines this elaborate fantasy in order to prove to herself that this is not the case.
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