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On the night of July 19, a vicious thunderstorm hits Bridgton, Maine. David Drayton lives beside Long Lake outside the town. He spent July 19 with his wife Steff and his five-year-old son Billy. Worried about the weather, David warned Steff that they might need to huddle in the basement. David’s family has lived near Long Lake for generations, and he knows how damaging a storm can be, describing such storms as “mother nature’s way of cleaning house periodically” (7). That night, the family sits together and waits for the storm to come.
When the storm arrives, David is surprised by its intensity. He sends Steff and Billy into the basement while he fetches candles and other supplies. They listen to the storm together, occasionally venturing upstairs with their candles in hand. They hear trees falling, the lake churning, and the wind roaring. They return to the basement during the final, most intense squall. David hears a tree crash through an upstairs bedroom. He tells Steff not to worry because “it’s insured” (9). When the storm passes, David leaves his family and goes upstairs to inspect the damage. The old tree beside their house has fallen. David returns to his family, and they sleep in the basement. He dreams about God.
The day after the storm, David and his family survey the damage. Fallen trees, clusters of electrified power cables, and broken glass litter the ground. Billy is awed by the “poststorm apocalypse” (12), while David uses his chainsaw to cut up the trees blocking the road. Steff is worried about the potential for more storms, though David is sure that her head is filled with the “gothic pronouncements and folk remedies” (13) issued by Mrs. Carmody, who runs the junk store in Bridgton. Steff mentions a local story about the Black Spring of 1888, but David dismisses it. David and Steff join Billy to inspect the damage along the lake shore.
David is flushed with anger when he sees that an old dead tree on the neighbor’s property has fallen on his boathouse. For many years, Billy and this neighbor—Brenton Norton—have been involved in a dispute over the property line. In the distance, David notices the cloud of mist hiding the other neighbors’ homes. Billy fishes an American flag from the water and lays it out to dry in the sun. David watches the mist, which seems to defy nature and move slowly toward him despite the breeze. David hears Brent cursing. Brent cannot get his expensive chainsaw to work; David is pleased. He spends the morning cutting up the trees on his property with his less expensive chainsaw. While working, he thinks about his neighbor’s theory that the Black Spring of 1888 is connected to the nearby military base, which is home to the mysterious Arrowhead Project that is supposedly working on “atomic things” (19). None of the neighbors can quite agree on the true nature of the Arrowhead Project.
David’s work with the chainsaw is interrupted by Brent, who awkwardly apologizes for the fallen tree. Another fallen tree destroyed Brent’s beloved classic car. David pities Brent, whose wife died in the past year. He agrees to drive Brent into Bridgton later that afternoon to purchase groceries. They drink beer together and, just before they leave, David notices the strange mist has drifted slowly across the lake. Something about the “pure, dazzling whiteness” (22) makes David uneasy. Steff stays at home to clean up the mess while David, Billy, and Brent drive into Bridgton. In the town, some stores remain open despite the power cut. While Brent and Billy enter the supermarket, David tries to call Steff from a payphone. However, the phone is out of service, so he joins Brent and Billy in the busy supermarket.
In the supermarket, David recognizes his neighbors and other community members as well as tourists and people visiting for the summer. Many are shopping for post-storm supplies. Billy spots two young soldiers in military fatigues in the store. David stands in line with Billy and Brent, making “desultory conversation” (28) over the sound of the small generator in the back of the store. From the long line, David can see through the large window into the parking lot. He hears police sirens, fire engines, and car horns outside. David feels a rising sense of dread. A young man bursts through the door, shouting about the fog that seems to be rolling up the road. People ignore him and remain in the line for the checkout, though their interest is piqued. As interest in the strange mist increases, Mrs. Carmody warns the customers that she feels “that it’s death out there” (29).
Events take on an “accelerating, confusing pace” (29). A man stumbles into the store with a nosebleed, warning that something is in the fog. He mentions disappearances and screaming. David feels the crowd becoming tense and anxious. Billy bursts into frightened tears, and David tries to comfort his son. The supermarket darkens as the mist floods the area outside with a “lazy speed” (31). Inside, people scream and panic. Some try to run out of the doors into the mist. Holding Billy tight, David stops Brent from joining them. A shriek from outside ends abruptly. David sees a strange “gray shadow” (32) drag a man into the mist. Brent tells the crowd not to go outside, and David agrees. People worry about their loved ones who are still at home; they speculate about chemical leaks, earthquakes, and other explanations. One woman is worried about her children. The people watch her exit the supermarket and vanish into the mist.
The opening chapters portray a contrast between the simple, comforting homelife by the lake and the anxiety of the storm. These anxieties increase steadily the further removed David becomes from his home. After leaving Steff, he encounters trees in the road, blocking his path and forcing him to drive carefully. Next, he almost hits a man riding a motorcycle, prompting him to worry about the fickleness of human life. After that, he realizes that the pay phone does not work, forcing David to realize that he has been cut off from Steff completely. Added to this, the discomfort caused by the loss of the air conditioning unit, the unavailability of certain items in the store, and Brent’s use of curse words around Billy make David understand how quickly the comforts of his modern existence can evaporate. His safety and his security are more fragile than he imagined. David is far from the cheerful, relaxed lakeside lifestyle he once took for granted. In a few hours, his entire life changed forever. The steady increase in minor anxieties forces David to confront this fragility and reappraise his position in society.
The Mist portrays the tensions between those within a small community and those on the outside. The people of Bridgton are very aware of their status within the community: there are some whose families have lived in the town for generations and others who own family homes in the area and visit only occasionally. This difference creates tension between the locals and the out-of-towners. The locals are invested in Bridgton as a community and a cohesive social project, where they can rely on one another and where everyone knows everyone else. The out-of-towners treat Bridgton as a holiday resort, spending their summer weekends in the town without contributing to the community. The opening chapters of the novel establish these tensions. David’s family has lived in Bridgton for generations while Brent is an out-of-towner. They have spent years in a bitter legal dispute over the property line in their house, a symbolic disagreement over the nature of territory and the idea of possession. The tensions between the locals and the out-of-towners are everywhere in the opening chapters. Brent’s inability to use a chainsaw, the frictions in the supermarket line, and the rampant gossip between trusted neighbors represent how these tensions are infused into the lives of the people of Bridgton. The locals resent outsiders, preferring their small, tight-knit community. The irony of their position is that—as the mist draws in—they will be forced into a cramped and pressurized situation, in which they will need to band together with out-of-towners as though they were lifelong neighbors. The arrival of the mist highlights the tensions in the town and forces the people of Bridgton to challenge the beliefs that are such a key part of their community.
The aftermath of the storm highlights the uselessness of money. The storm destroys property throughout the town and the lakeside area. Though David is annoyed, he understands that his insurance will cover the cost. He is not concerned about the money, only the survival and well-being of his family. However, he realizes that the insurance will not cover anything of sentimental value. The destruction of Brent’s car prompts David to feel genuine empathy for someone he loathes, illustrating how money is worthless compared to a person’s memories and emotions. The car provided Brent with comfort and joy in the wake of his wife’s death. David understands that money cannot easily replace these sentiments. Just as money will have no value once the mist creeps into the town and the people must fend for themselves, insurance provides no way to replace important sentimental items lost or destroyed.
By Stephen King