Brittle (adjective):easily broken, cracked, or snapped

Example (brittle clay,brittle glass)

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brittle

This word was encountered in the article  “Walk with Me”by David L. Ulin which states ” I found the address moved my stuff out of the car: a suitcase and a pile of books. The air was thin, the darkness brittle. I was alone”. This was located on the second page , last paragraph, ninth sentence.

What this word meant to mean was fragile. Reading this sentence it mad sense to me as to what the sentence was trying to say. Which was since she was being kicked out she felt useless and broken inside. Due to the fact that who ever kicked her out hurt her as a person. So her being a woman she was easily hurt and broken inside. For example when somebody is in a marriage and the partner cheats on the other. What usually happens is that the partner who cheater is unwilling to tell the truth because they know that what they will say will break that person. Especially if they are in love or the best couple it will really bring the bad side of them where they can snap and get angry.