Breakdown of Au bout de trois jours de bruit, il a craqué et a cédé.
il
he
et
and
avoir
to have
de
of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)
Questions & Answers about Au bout de trois jours de bruit, il a craqué et a cédé.
Could I use à la fin de instead of au bout de here?
You could, but au bout de is much more natural for this sentence. While à la fin de literally points to the chronological end of something (like the end of a movie or a month), au bout de is used with durations to mean "after [time] has elapsed." It frequently carries a sense of reaching a limit or the end of one's patience, which perfectly sets up the fact that he "cracked"!
Since "noise" is an uncountable concept here, why is it de bruit instead of du bruit?
This is because trois jours acts as an expression of quantity or measurement here. Just like with beaucoup de (a lot of) or un kilo de (a kilo of), when you measure something out—even with a unit of time like "three days of"—you must use the bare preposition de without the definite article, regardless of whether the following noun is countable or uncountable.
Does craquer literally mean "to crack" in French, just like in English?
Yes! It can mean to physically snap or crack (like a dry branch). However, in everyday French, it is very commonly used figuratively to mean losing your patience, suffering a nervous breakdown, or giving in to temptation (for example, breaking your diet or buying a pair of shoes you were trying to resist).
What is the difference between craquer and céder in this context, since both relate to him giving up?