Reuniting the translucent creatures of the deep seems like a natural step after finding them all in the same environment, but the results of this decision are disastrous. The meek seahorses, which were “translucent but tinted just so, as if gilded only slightly, fell into the tank, drifting down like a slow rain of golden question marks,” were the first to find a space in this new environment (476). These seahorses seem to represent the general population, members of the circle who watch the actions of others from afar. They don’t do much, but they exist and are curious about the world around them. Next, the octopus is placed in the tank, where it “instantly spread itself up like a welcoming hand. As it had done when alone, it traced the contours of the glass, feeling the coral, the seaweed, always gentle, wanting to know all, touch all” (476). Here, the octopus is representative of the original intent of the Circle, to connect all knowledge and make it accessible to everyone. This is far more innocent than the final intent of the Circle, and involves discovering the world and sharing it, as the naturally curious human feasts to know everything that is possible to be known. The octopus is not harming anything or anyone, but it exists and explores. Ty’s original purpose in creating the Circle seems much more in touch with the octopus. It was to streamline, to discover, but not to cause any destruction.
Finally, the shark is released into the tank, which “darted downward and quickly snatched the largest tuna and devoured it in two snaps of its jaws” (479). The shark was quick to pounce on its prey, and consumed everything in its sight, turning it into a grey ash. The Circle made it its goal to consume every part of its lives, striving for complete transparency from its members and creating a goal of absolute knowledge. In this way, it has become the shark, because it eats everything in its path. The purpose is supposed to be noble, allowing the greatest possible amount of sharing of information and expanding humans knowledge. However, this quickly becomes more sinister, as with the snark which then attacked the octopus, “ripped off an arm…and, in a flurry, ripped its prey’s tentacles off, one by one, until the octopus was dead, a shredded mass of milky white matter,” destroying the more innocent a curious version of the Circle (481). The shark doesn’t stop here. It continues, and “it ate everything, and deposited the remains quickly, carpeting the empty aquarium in a low film of white ash” (482). Nothing stands in the shark’s way, nothing is inedible. Nothing is left unknown. In the transparent shark, we see a symbol of the transparent Circle, which is all knowing and omnipresent. Clearly the intent of the Circle is no longer innocent, and it is no longer protecting off its users, but instead aims to control all, know all, and be all.
I found the comparison between the Circle and the sea creatures hard to explain, but you did a great job of connecting the symbolism between these things. You make a great point about how the original intent of the Circle was over taken by new ideologies. The sinister nature of the Circle is not seen to one of its everyday workers, however, this characteristic is clear to those are “in too deep” much like the sea creatures. Using the shark as the final analogy was very strategic. The shark, the most powerful of the creatures, exhibits its power in the very end, just as the Circle does when Mae reveals she stayed loyal to the company and allowed its role to persist in society.