After reading The Circle, a noteworthy theme I noticed is the questionable goodness of people and society. Eggers continuously returns to the idea that people aren’t inherently good—but become good when others are watching. Transparency and the lack of privacy makes people more cautious and aware. Although this transparency is what allowed for much of the good that happened within the novel—such as eradicating crime and making healthcare more widely available, it also obscures people’s deep, true intentions. They may seem good, but only because that is the socially accepted norm.

This extends to another theme, which is the perception of truth. Truth in The Circle is always idealistic—it’s the desired perception. People are viewed as good, technology is viewed as helpful, transparency is viewed as beneficial. However, when this takes precedence over actual truth, we begin to lose the humanity and authenticity of everyone in society. Information becomes ignored and hidden, and people’s lives become a convoluted lie.

Overall, The Circle raises questions and themes worth discussing, however, Eggers writes in a way that seems a bit implausible. In many ways, humans and technology don’t act in the ways which he describes. Eggers creates so many unlikely outcomes one after the other that they become harder to believe throughout the course of the novel. Subtlety is a rare commodity here, and this ends up leaving only a thin connection to reality as we know it.