A large empty glass jar stands beside a smaller jar containing a copper-coloured heart.

Original artwork, not a still

The Town

William Faulkner

She was bored. She loved, had capacity to love, to give and accept love. Only she tried twice and failed twice to find somebody not just strong enough to deserve it, earn it, match it, but even brave enough to accept it.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The passage separates her ability to love from the two relationships she failed to form. Those failures are attributed to the other people’s capacity to receive her love. Its final shift toward bravery makes acceptance itself a challenge, before deserving or matching her feelings even begins.

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