In a true Romeo and Juliet moment, with,
however, a very different ending, Huck discovers that Sophia Grangerford has eloped with Harney
Shpherdson. These two members from feuding families at least manage to escape and find happiness,
however the rest of their family members find anything but as they are left to fight out the
disgrace of one of their family members marrying into the other family, with which they have
feuded for so long. Note what Jack, Huck's slave for the duration of his stay, tells
him:
Miss Sophia's run
off! 'deed she has. She run off in de night some time--bonody don't know jis' when; run off to
get married to dat young Harney Shepherdson, you know--leastways, so dey
'spec.
The resulting bloodbath that
ensues presents Twain's satire on the South and the way that feuds destroy families. What could
have been an opportunity for healing the breach between these two families only serves to divide
them further, resulting in more cause for bitterness and anger.
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