FRIENDS, ENEMIES, AND THE POLITE FICTION.

Social interaction of any kind requires some degree of consensus. This is true only if the word consensus sheds its connotation of empathy, of emotional rap- port, and is confined to meaning agreement on the terms of which interaction takes place. Consensus may thus be defined as the tacit delineation of mutually accepted norms of behavior. Since it takes two to make a quarrel, a quarrel requires consensus in this sense. The examination of certain situations in which consensus is purposefully manipulated may illuminate its significance in inter- action; the primary object of this paper, however, is to relate the analysis of interaction to more general sociological categories, and thereby to develop further insights into the processes of social interaction. The roles that an individual plays in different social situations may sometimes be present as possible alternatives in the same situation. A man may invite workmates or colleagues into his home and meet them in the same situation as that in which he enacts the role of husband and parent. The roles of husband and of parent may themselves over-lap in this way in different situations within the home.