Fluid identities and social dislocation in the face of crime, guilt and ethics in Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr Ripley and The Tremor of Forgery

The purpose of this article is to examine identity shift and social alienation in different social and cultural backgrounds in the two works of Patricia Highsmith (1921–1955) – The Talented Mr Ripley (1955) and The Tremor of Forgery (1969). The emphasis will be placed on the exploration of crime, guilt and human conscience in confrontation with new environments and ethically different cultural norms. The article will show that Patricia Highsmith's novels, despite each depicting entirely different social and cultural environments, address the problem of identity, ethics and guilt in crisis situations. As a lesbian, the American writer was imbued with a feeling of social non-conformity, and her status as an American living in Europe also marginalized her. Patricia Highsmith's living in deeply conservative American society affected her writing and contributed to the creation of the characters who operate outside the norm and live on the fringes of society.