I believe it makes the gods stronger or feel stronger
Stated messages are clearly identified, while implied messages are not obvious right away.
They are asking if the existence of the mist in the story is meant to encourage us to disregard the difference between various types of memory and knowledge.
In the book, the mist is there to represent of forgetfulness. It settles on the ground AND in people’s minds too, and that makes them forget things they knew and things that happened recently.
"And looky here—you drop that school, you hear? I'll learn people to bring up a boy to put on airs over his own father and let on to be better'n what HE is."