Chapter 18 is the famous chapter where Huck enters the world of the Grangerfords, the highly dysfunctional family that he cannot quite comprehend to be so since he was so bedazzled by the personality of Colonel Grangerford. In the outside, this house and family seemed to be a warm and cozy ideal for Huck. However, as the narration goes you realize that this is a really cracked bunch. First of all, the family treats Grangerford with the deference that you give a Colonel, not with the warmth of a father. There are 4 children in the household, Bob, Tom, Charlotte, Sophia, an Buck who also catch Huck's fancy.
Through Buck we realize that the family is feuding with another town family, the Sheperdsons, since he tries to shoot one of them with lots of normalcy in his actions. He tells Buck that the family's feud is so bad the families go to church together carrying rifles.
The household of the Grangerfords include decorations which are tacky and morbid. The daughter Sophia is obviously disturbed in her behavior, and Huck witnesses a final battle between the families which ended in both Grangerfods kids dead.
Sophia runs away with one of the sons of the feuding family, and helps Jim connect with Huck. At this point Huck is totally bummed out about the family and moves on with Jim.
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