Huckleberry Finn Handout: Aristocracy, feud
  The Grangerfords and Sherpherdsons

The introduction of the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons adds a new element of humor to Twain’s novel. Whereas earlier Twain satirizes the actions of “common” townspeople, the stately families provide a perfect opportunity for Twain to burlesque the Southern code of chivalry and aristocracy of the antebellum South. The Grangerford’s house represents a gaudy and tasteless display of wealth, and Huck’s appreciation of the decor only adds to the humor. The decor that exemplifies the Grangerford’s taste is the artistic work of Emmeline, the deceased daughter who pined away after failing to discover a rhyme for “Whistler.” In contrast to Huck’s practical fascination with death, Emmeline’s work displays a romantic and sentimental obsession that even gives Huck the “fantods.”

Huck’s stay at the Grangerfords represents another instance of Twain poking fun at American tastes and at the conceits of romantic literature. For Huck, who has never really had a home aside from the Widow Douglas’s rather spartan house, the Grangerford house looks like a palace. Huck’s admiration is genuine but naive, for the Grangerfords and their place are somewhat absurd. In the figure of deceased Emmeline Grangerford, Twain pokes fun at Victorian literatures propensity for mourning and melancholy. Indeed, Emmeline’s hilariously awful artwork and poems mock popular works of the time.

Twain also uses the families to underscore his subtle satire on religion, as the two families attend the same church, leaning their guns against the walls during the sermon about “brotherly love.” The mixture of theology and gunplay is ironic, as is the family’s subsequent reaction that the sermon was filled with positive messages about “faith and good work and free grace and preforeordestination.” Twain’s Calvinist background resurfaces in his combination of predestination and foreordination.

The great Grangerford-Shepherdson feud is yet another conceit taken from romantic literature, specifically that literatures concern with family honor. The Grangerfords and Shepherdsons are rather like Tom Sawyer grown up and armed with weapons: motivated by a sense of style and this ridiculous notion of family honor, they actually kill each other.

The feud between the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons is one of the more memorable chapters in Huck Finn because of its extreme violence. The fact that the two noble families do not know why they continue to fight is ironic, but the irony deepens when the families actually draw blood. Huck’s casual observance turns into participation, and when he witnesses the death of his young friend, Buck, he is unable to recount the story to readers. The hated calls of “Kill them, kill them!” prompt Huck to wish that he had never gone ashore, despite his affection for the Grangerfords. The theme of death and brutality, then, is present in all facets of society, including the wealthy, and the peace of the river is never more apparent to Huck.

When Huck returns to the raft and he and Jim are safe, Huck wearily observes that “ el there warnt no home like a raft, after all el. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft.” The unaffected statement solidifies the raft/shore dichotomy and reinforces the idea that society, despite its sophistication, is cruel and unjust.

Cliffnotes

Originally, burlesque featured shows that included comic sketches, often lampooning the social attitudes of the upper classes, alternating with dance routines. It developed alongside vaudeville and ran on competing circuits. Possibly due to historical social tensions between the upper classes and lower classes of society, much of the humor and entertainment of burlesque focused on lowbrow and ribald subjects. The genre originated in the 1840s, early in the Victorian Era, a time of culture clashes between the social rules of established aristocracy and a working-class society. The popular burlesque show of the 1870s through the 1920s referred to a raucous, somewhat bawdy style of variety theater.