There have been occasions in my later life (I suppose as in most lives) when I have felt for a time as if a thick curtain had fallen on all its interest and romance, to shut me out from anything save dull endurance any more. Never has that curtain dropped so heavy and blank, as when my way in life lay stretched out straight before me through the newly-entered road of apprenticeship to Joe.
– Charles Dickens
Great Expectations, Chapter 14. Pip goes through a dark period of depression while working with Joe as his apprentice. He is unhappy with blacksmithing and wants something more out of life. The simile of a thick curtain dropping down over his life describes how hopeless he feels. Pip’s dissatisfaction with the social class he feels trapped in, as well as his ambition to do better, are reflected here.