But this time as soon as he moved she began to fade. He stopped at once, not breathing again, motionless, willing his eyes to see that she had stopped too. But she had not stopped. She was fading, going. "Wait, " he said, talking as sweet as he had ever heard his voice speak to a woman: "Den lemme go wid you, honey." But she was going. William Faulkner
About This Quote

In this passage from Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, Jake is in love with a woman named Brett. The two have been in love for a while and have been talking about marrying. But when Jake reaches out to take Brett in his arms she fades away right away, leaving Jake feeling confused and hurt. This is a classic example of Hemingway's "iceberg theme," where a minor character serves as a vehicle for conveying a deeper meaning about the true nature of the characters.

In this case, the "iceberg" is Brett herself. Yes, she may be beautiful and lovely, but her beauty is not what gives her real depth. What makes her interesting is that she doesn't stay beautiful forever.

In fact, she seems to fade at first sight of Jake's arms around her. It's only upon closer inspection that you see the real beauty of this character…she's actually really pretty inside!

Source: Go Down, Moses

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  3. You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams. - Dr. Seuss
  4. A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you. - Elbert Hubbard
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More Quotes By William Faulkner
  1. The saddest thing about love, Joe, is that not only the love cannot last forever, but even the heartbreak is soon forgotten.
  2. She was bored. She loved, had capacity to love, for 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.
  3. You don’t love because: you love despite; not for the virtues, but despite the faults.
  4. I could just remember how my father used to say that the reason for living was to get ready to stay dead a long time.
  5. Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Do not bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.
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