At the beginning of Chapter 22, Smike and Nicholas must leave London to seek their fortunes elsewhere. As they make their journey out into the world, the narrator pontificates about the meaning of the adventure. Dickens utilizes metaphor in the following passage to extrapolate on this meaning:

It was a harder day's journey than yesterday's, for there were long and weary hills to climb; and in journeys, as in life, it is a great deal easier to go down hill than up. However, they kept on, with unabated perseverance, and the hill has not yet lifted its face to heaven that perseverance will not gain the summit of at last.

In this excerpt, the narrator compares the characters' physical journey to the journey of life, equating physical with emotional toil. The "harder day's journey than yesterday's," though referencing the energy Smike and Nicholas must exert to climb up "long and weary hills," could very well apply to a difficult relationship or work situation. The need for "unabated perseverance" does not apply only to Smike and Nicholas's journey outside of London, but also to the continued relational turmoil the two men face. As they struggle to maintain physical stamina, they also struggle to remain emotionally and mentally healthy.