Knowledge Game in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

While innocence has been identified with ignorance, I argue that innocence is not lost but can be maintained after the acquisition of knowledge as knowledge will be used to prevent harm to others, especially to those in marginal positions. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn demonstrates how a child gains knowledge about the social game which is socially conditioned and creates power relations which will be explained by the theory of Pierre Bourdieu. While the novel demonstrates how the powerful mechanism of society regulates the notion of innocence and sometimes oppresses its realization, it simultaneously explores the possibility of actualizing innocence within the constraining boundary of society. In fact, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn affirms the potential and accentuates the value of innocence precisely for the rarity and difficulty of its actualization. While knowledge brings Huck into an intense struggle between social morality and his own notion of innocence, Huck continues to choose to help the dominated players of the game proving that innocence is not lost when knowledge is acquired.