This article addresses the prevalent notion of divide or split in late Ottoman society purportedly created by the Western influence and identifies some of the pitfalls that such a problematic notion entails. It demonstrates that even among the groups and institutions most often cited as symptomatic of such a putatively bifurcated society, namely, among the most Westernized élites and the organi- zations most influenced by the West, where we would expect such a reading to be most clearly reflected, we find deep contradictions which render the entire notion practically untenable. The article juxtaposes the expectations raised by the notion of divide against examples of late Ottoman experience drawn from three different areas: the political opposition movements; the new schools frequently assumed to have reoriented an entire generation of Ottoman subjects towards the West; and the lived experience of the Istanbul élite. The conclusion is that late Ottoman society was far more able to assimilate political, social and cultural difference than their observers have given it credit. ‬