the Grangerfords' principles, and the stake they placed in good manners, delicious food, and attractive possessions. However, Huck realizes in Chapter 18 that whereas the Grangerfords may value a hand-painted clock more than money, they put little value on human life. Buck Grangerford provides the third view of the Grangerford's world. He is the same age as Huck; he has grown up in a world of feuding, family picnics, and Sunday sermon that are appreciated but rarely followed. Buck, from when he meets Huck until he is brutally murdered, never questions the ways of his family. For the rest of the chapter, Buck provides a foil for Huck, showing the matured Huck questioning and judging the world around him. In fact it seems Buck does not have the imagination to conceive ofa different world. He is amazed Huck has never heard of a feud, and surprised by Huck's desire to hear the history and the rationale behind it. In Buck Grangerford's rambling answers we hear Mark Twain's view of a southern feuding family, and after Buck finishes his answer, we watch Huck's reaction to the true nature of the Grangerfords. Buck details Twain's opinion that a feud is not started or continued by thought. The reasons for the feud have been forgotten, and the Grangerfords do not hate, but in fact respect, their sworn enemies. They live their lives by tradition, and the fact that the feud is a tradition justifies its needless, pointless violence. From the dignified Colonel with "a few buck-shot in him"(121) to Buck, who is eager for the glory to be gained from shooting a Shepherdson in the back, the Grangerfords unquestioningly believe in devaluing human life because it is a civilized tradition. It is interesting that the only compliment Huck gives to a Grangerford after Buckshot at Harney Shepherdson was to Miss Sophia. He admits that the young women who denied part in any family feud is "powerful pretty"(122). However, the rosy sheen that had spurred Huck to u...
