In Black Like Me, John Howard Griffin writes: "I began to understand
Lionel Trilling's remark that culture--learned behavior patterns so
deeply engrained they produce unconscious, involuntary reactions--is a
prison." Where did Lionel Trilling first make this remark? (I need to
be able to quote the original text). Thanks!

Hello rrtnrvrb,

I am familiar with both authors you note, John Griffin and Lionel
Trilling, and can remember where Trilling analyzed the prison motif. 
He published it in a collection of essays called "The Opposing Self:
Nine Essays in Criticism," originally published by Viking Press, New
York, in 1955 (ISBN: 0670527661, or 1121546137).

Library of Congress information on "Opposing Self":
Personal Name:
Trilling, Lionel, 1905-1975.

Main Title:
The opposing self; nine essays in criticism.

Published/Created:
New York, Viking Press, 1955.

Description:
232 p. 22 cm.

LC Classification:
PN511 .T76


I thought Trilling may have published it in 1954, but I could not find
any online information attributing it to this date.  This may be
either due to his casual mentioning of it in a speech or lecture, or
the last remaining remnant of info from my thesis days.

In "Opposing Self," Trilling analyzes the use of prisons in Charles
Dickens' "Little Dorrit" as a metaphor for understanding and cohesion
throughout the book (the main character, Little Dorrit, is born in a
prison).  If you'd like more info on Trilling's criticism of "Little
Dorrit" and his extrapolation of prisons over Little Dorrit and
Dicken's own life, I would recommend the following excellent articles:

Little Dorrit and the Disease of Modern Life, by Edwin B. Barrett 
1970
Dickens and the Genealogy of Postmodernism, by Jay Clayton   1991
(both articles published in the journal "Nineteenth-Century
Literature" from the University of California Press)

An example of Trilling's critical thinking can be seen in this article
from "The New Republic":

IN PROFESSOR TRILLING'S CLASS:  Reality, Unreality, and the Novel
(1954 Columbia lecture)
http://www.tnr.com/020501/trilling020501.html

The Atlantic Online also has a good summary of Trilling's excellent
criticism:

The Last Great Critic (page two, concerning his book criticisms)
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/07/glick2.htm


I hope this helps your interests, rrtnrvrb,
carwfloc-ga

Search strategy:
Personal (painfully long) education
Google.com:  trilling "opposing self"

Had to go to the book itself to find the remark, which is in the
Preface, but got me to the right book. Thanks!