Journal Entry #3, Question 2

Analyze the conflict between the Shepherdsons and the Grangerfords. Why does Twain include these families in his novel?

During chapters 17 and 19 of Huckleberry Finn, we are introduced to the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons. These wealthy, aristocratic families have engaged in a family feud for over 30 years, and continue to fight for no reason other than to continue the feud. Neither families seem to understand why they are fighting; they simply continue to kill each other and seek revenge for an unknown event of the past. When Huck asks Buck why the two families are engaged in a feud, Buck does not have a clear explanation as to why: “Oh, yes, pa knows, I reckon, and some of the other older folks; but they don’t know now what the row was about in the first place” (Twain 75).  Although the families do not understand why they are fighting, they continue to fight for the sake of it. 

Twain may have included the dispute of the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons in Huckleberry Finn in order to allude to the Civil War. By describing two feuding groups who do not entirely understand what they are fighting for, Twain could possibly be alluding to the conflict between the North and the South. During the Civil War, the North and South disagreed over several issues such as slavery, and fought as a result of sectionalism that grew over the years. However, some of the younger men who were drafted for the Civil War may not have entirely understood what they were fighting for or what past issues led to the division between the North and the South. Older adults may have understood the conflict, like the older members of the Grangerford and Shepherdsons apparently remembered why the two families were engaging in fighting. But Twain may have thought that the younger generation who fought in the Civil War did not entirely understand what issues led to the war and fought only for the sake of fighting. Perhaps this is what he was trying to convey in his book by creating a feud between opposing sides, within the same area, that generally did not understand the purpose for fighting. In other words, Twain may have seen the Civil War as a ridiculous event, and alluded to it in his story.