In Susan Glaspell's Trifles, most of Minnie Wright's jars of preserves burst in the frigid farmhouse after Minnie has been carried off to jail for the murder of her husband. The jars of preserves are indeed symbolic. Let's look at a couple possibilities of how that symbolism works.

First, we might look at the preserves as Minnie's effort to make something meaningful of her life. She has tried her best over the years to make a home in that lonely farmhouse with a husband who seems to be a mean man who wants his own way (look at the dead canary for evidence of that).

Now most of the jars of preserves have burst, creating quite a mess. Minnie's life is now in quite a mess as well. It has burst open. She is in jail, accused of murdering her husband, which she probably did. Any stability her life had is now gone. Everything has flown apart, just like those jars.

Yet there are still a few jars intact, not many, but something. This may suggest that there is some hope left for Minnie, that life can go on in some fashion. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters do not want to tell Minnie about the preserves, but Minnie likely knows anyway. She is worried about the preserves because she is even more worried about what will happen to her. It's easier to think about jars than jail.