These chapters were a little confusing to me. It seemed that they would be in one place one second, and then the next they were somewhere else with new people. For example, I didn't really understand where the Duke and the King came from. Huck and Jim had just left the family and the feud and then all of the sudden these two men were tagging along with them. I also didn't understand why they insisted on being called the "Duke" or the "King" if they actually weren't decedents of real royalty, it was just stories they made up. Also, why did Mark Twain go into so much detail over Buck's house? I didn't really see the importance of it, other than to help the reader paint a picture of where he was staying.
However confused I may be, there is one thing that I do understand; Huck being at peace on the river and felt it was chaos on land. Huck stated in the book, "We said there warn't no home like a raft, after all. Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don't. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft." (Twain 116) He also said, "It's a lovely life to live on a raft. We had the sky up there, all speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them, and discuss about whether they was made or only just happened." (Twain 118) I believe that Huck feels more free on the river then he does anywhere else because all of the traveling they are doing at night. He says at one point that they liked to just sit around naked on the raft because it was more comfortable then the clothes he was in. He is so used to his old ways, and now the river and the night time gives him more freedom to do as he pleases. However, the chaos he faces on land may play a part in this as well. For example, he has been around multiple deaths like the feud with the Grangerfords and the Sherperdsons, and the death of Boggs in the town that they were in. The feud had killed Buck, who Huck had shared a room with for a while. Huck had said, "I cried a little when I was covering up Buck's face, for he was mighty good to me." (Twain 115)
One thing that I really liked about these chapters was the feud with the Sheperdsons and the Grangerfords, it reminded me of the feud between the Hatfield's and the McCoy's. Both feuds started over something small, and then the whole family got involved until they were all wither dead, or one side had won the fight. Miss Sophia running off with Harney Sheperdson was a real shocker, and reminded me of another story, Romeo and Juliet! The Montague's and the Capulet's were in a feud along with these two families as well, and Romeo and Juliet found love together and ran off. I like that Twain combined the two stories, or maybe he just meant to change up the story of Romeo and Juliet, but I really liked it. It added a little more excitement to this more dull part of the book.
However confused I may be, there is one thing that I do understand; Huck being at peace on the river and felt it was chaos on land. Huck stated in the book, "We said there warn't no home like a raft, after all. Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don't. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft." (Twain 116) He also said, "It's a lovely life to live on a raft. We had the sky up there, all speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them, and discuss about whether they was made or only just happened." (Twain 118) I believe that Huck feels more free on the river then he does anywhere else because all of the traveling they are doing at night. He says at one point that they liked to just sit around naked on the raft because it was more comfortable then the clothes he was in. He is so used to his old ways, and now the river and the night time gives him more freedom to do as he pleases. However, the chaos he faces on land may play a part in this as well. For example, he has been around multiple deaths like the feud with the Grangerfords and the Sherperdsons, and the death of Boggs in the town that they were in. The feud had killed Buck, who Huck had shared a room with for a while. Huck had said, "I cried a little when I was covering up Buck's face, for he was mighty good to me." (Twain 115)
One thing that I really liked about these chapters was the feud with the Sheperdsons and the Grangerfords, it reminded me of the feud between the Hatfield's and the McCoy's. Both feuds started over something small, and then the whole family got involved until they were all wither dead, or one side had won the fight. Miss Sophia running off with Harney Sheperdson was a real shocker, and reminded me of another story, Romeo and Juliet! The Montague's and the Capulet's were in a feud along with these two families as well, and Romeo and Juliet found love together and ran off. I like that Twain combined the two stories, or maybe he just meant to change up the story of Romeo and Juliet, but I really liked it. It added a little more excitement to this more dull part of the book.