Two noble, pious, aristocratic families that absurdly, bloodily feud with one another despite mutual respect. Huck stays with the Grangerfords after becoming separated from Jim, but becomes embroiled in their feud after he accidentally enables a Grangerford girl to elope with a Shepherdson boy. Huck is confused by how such good, brave people could be involved in such devastating madness.
The Grangerfords and Shepherdsons Quotes in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn quotes below are all either spoken by The Grangerfords and Shepherdsons or refer to The Grangerfords and Shepherdsons. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 18
Quotes
“Did you want to kill [the Shepherdson], Buck?”
“Well, I bet I did.”
“What did he do to you?”
“Him? He never done nothing to me.”
“Well, then, what did you want to kill him for?”
“Why nothing—only it’s on account of the feud.”
Related Characters:
Huckleberry Finn (speaker), The Grangerfords and Shepherdsons (speaker)
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Adventures of Huck Finn LitChart as a printable PDF.

The Grangerfords and Shepherdsons Character Timeline in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The timeline below shows where the character The Grangerfords and Shepherdsons appears in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 17
...says that he’s George Jackson, only a boy. The man asks if Huck knows the Shepherdsons. Huck says that he does not, but the man remains skeptical. Nevertheless, he invites Huck...
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The Grangerfords are welcoming and friendly and provide Huck with a meal, clothes, and a place to...
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Huck admires the Grangerford’s home, many of the features of which, like the brass doorknob and the brick-bottomed fireplace,...
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Also hanging on the walls are pictures painted by a member of the Grangerford family, Emmeline, a little girl who died young, all of which are dark in theme...
(full context)
Chapter 18
Huck regards Mr. Grangerford, who is the least frivolous of men, as being a gentleman, well-bred, dignified, a joy,...
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Huck observes that many slaves serve the Grangerford family, each Grangerford being tended to by one slave. Huck himself has a slave to...
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Huck learns that there is another aristocratic family living nearby: the Shepherdsons, as proud and grand as the Grangerfords. One day, as Huck and Buck are hunting,...
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...families fight till everybody’s dead, and then there’s no more feud. Buck explains that many Grangerfords and Shepherdsons have died in the feud, and many have been wounded. He explains how,...
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Huck goes to church with the Grangerfords and listens to a sermon about brotherly love, which he finds tiring but which the...
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The next day, Huck notices he is alone in the Grangerford’s house. He goes outside, where Jack tells him that Miss Sophia has run away to...
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The Shepherdsons ride back and shoot at Buck and the other Grangerford boy. Wounded, the two boys...
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...them. Huck is nervous until he and Jim drift two miles away from where the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons live, at which point he feels safe, and he and Jim share a...
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