ABSTRACT
Almost unavoidably, one today sees Lionel Trilling's two student protagonists as having arrived, tentatively at least, at contrasting solutions to the problem of identity. Personal identity is roughly synonymous with individuality. Existentialist discussions of identity appear to be sharply at variance with the sociological perspective that stresses the lack of consensus, the fragmented social structure, and the discontinuities in individual growth of modern society. Existentialist writers are primarily concerned with personal identity. Social analysts have often observed that greater individuality, a heightened sense of identity, and a richer inner life may flourish where social constraints are more binding than they are under the regime of aimless freedom enjoyed by so many contemporary Americans. A sense of personal identity is more easily safeguarded by formal manners and strict rules of etiquette governing one's relations with others than by the ready friendliness, lack of reserve, and casual intimacy with strangers that have long been recognized as characteristically American.
