We changed again, and yet again, and it was now too late and too far to go back, and I went on. And the mists had all solemnly risen now, and the world lay spread before me.
– Charles Dickens
Great Expectations, Chapter 19. This is a description of Pip changing coaches on the journey to London where he looks forward to his great expectations of a new life. But we can read this also as a metaphor for Pip’s journey up the social class ladder as he outgrows rural village life and sets off to be a gentleman. The ubiquitous mist that covers his home area symbolizes his uncertainty about the future and his place in the world. As he travels further on from his home village the mist lifts, marking the ending of one chapter of Pip’s life and the beginning of another of fresh possibilities and potential.