“We are…
Penn State!”
To a visitor who knows nothing of Penn State, the traditions of the campus can seem loud and confusing and often cultish. However, even in the three weeks we’ve been attending this university, we’ve become accustomed to the cheers and the fight songs, and the community seems like a home.
As Mae is presented with the world of the Circle, a breathtaking campus filled with innovation and beauty, the overwhelming sense of home seems to reach her incredibly quickly. Although The Circle doesn’t have their own “We Are” cheer, their employees are filled with pride for the company. In Customer Experience, each member is encouraged to do the best they can, and due to the environment around them, the workers end up incredibly successful. A similar energy surrounds Penn State. We are all aware that we are part of something much bigger than ourselves, so we try our hardest to better the institution.
The Circle does have it’s own cultish mantras, although they aren’t so much built around pride as our own. The stones examined by Mae in the first pages of the book highlights the values the company, mostly reminiscent of words found on inspirational posters in middle school classrooms. However, at the end of the section, a much more intense slogan with much darker meaning is presented: “All that happens must be known” (68). This saying seems to transcend the simplicity of the stones and the “We Are” chant in its implications to humanity, but no one in the Circle seems concerned.
The first section of The Circle presents a community that is close knit and united by words and a desire to better the community as a whole, much like Penn State. As an outsider, however, the world of the Circle already seems much more problematic than that of our institution. A certain degree of brain washing appears to be taking place.