Category Archives: The Circle Blog

Mae and the aspect of romance.

Romance has been diminished to something so much less beautiful than what it used to be, before the onset of social media. What has been presented to us is three kinds of romantic figures-one of the past, Mercer, one who is exceedingly open and, Francis, and another who is a mystery, Kalden. Now what really adds to the essence of the novel is how divergent the three figures and how they manage to impact the life of Mae. It is quite interesting to see the implications of such varied beliefs on Mae.

One character that really helps brings out the negative element of The Circle. As Mae views him as quite an antagonist, she turns a deaf ear to his warnings and advice regarding her new employers. He presents to the readers a more layman and third person view of the implications of social media. The fact that Mae absolutely detested him might have been one of the reasons behind her making the decision regarding becoming transparent. His warnings as merely a result of a middle-class thinking, as he is aware of the effects of a monopoly gaining complete access to someone’s life. They also act as a very strong foreshadowing element, however, due to her lack of respect for him, Mae is repulsed by his advice. Mercer also lacks in credibility and rhetoric skills, as he is incredibly brash with his advice. He plays an integral role as a character, presenting to the readers with the view of a civilian, whose life didn’t really depend on the monopoly but was afraid of being dragged into something that might cause his downfall.

Mae’s other boyfriend figure is the loving and emotionally scarred  Francis. He plays an incredibly vital role as a character who has been completely ridden over by the monopoly, which exploits his trauma to their own good by making him think of the all-knowing concept as a way of preventing any kind of child abuse or kidnapping. He is presented as a complete opposite to Mercer and his earnest devotion to the Circle makes Mae incredibly uncomfortable, as she is not used to the openness he shows about their relationship, to the whole world. He doesn’t respect Mae’s privacy and even goes to the extent of filming a sexual experience with her. He stands as a symbol of a character who shows us a different aspect to the acts of the monopoly and how it had certain positive effects, such as increasing security for the people. He was brainwashed using his own weakness and is presented as an incredibly vulnerable character. Mae’s feelings for him are seemingly selfish as she only goes to him when she is dissatisfied with herself or jealous regarding someone else liking him. Despite his weak character, his immense rhetoric capability in terms of ethos, really influences Mae to maintain a romantic relationship with him, despite his sexual and romantic shortcomings.

Kalden, the last romantic figure, stands as everything that goes against the preaching of the Circle, as he is exceedingly reserved and secretive, unlike the organisation he worked for. He is unlike any other character because despite being an employee of the organisation, he has not been brainwashed and therefore can offer an objective view of the implications of the Circle. He warns Mae and we see that she is exceedingly frustrated yet attracted to his mysterious vibe. However,Mae is quite deaf to his advice and therefore his role isn’t of much importance to her except it gives more perspective to the reader. Due to his mysterious demeanor, he lacks all rhetoric, since Mae is neither emotionally attached to him nor does she have a belief in his advice.

Thus, all the romantic figures are presented to us as various perspectives of the monopoly. We are presented with various ways of rhetoric that has been tried to be implemented and whether or not they manage to work. It is quite evident that they have had either negative or positive impacts on Mae’s thought process and acceptance of the Circle’s principles.

Attatchments.

Intimacy and Privacy are two of the concepts that have been explored in the The Circle, or perhaps to be more specific, the lack of the privacy which causes issues in terms of intimacy. As the genenral motto of the Circle is  “All that happens will be known”, we can already see the issue that could arise due to this lack of any kind of seclusion from the world. It is quite evident from the beginning, as Annie’s tells Francis’ stpry to her, that there was no much respect for privacy; however as Francis shakes this off, it is also seen that this lack of privacy had been accepted as part of the Circle, however it seemingly reduces the intimacy between Francis and Mae, as seen on page 87. Instead of having a conversation about themselves, they talk about a new division of the Circle. Thus, the lack of privacy in the community has caused a loss of closeness between them, since they already know mostly about each other from someone else. Francis’ behaviour in general is noted as “strange and unfiltered” by Mae on page 127, thus showing how their intimacy was being impacted by the lack of any kind of personal space. However, we see that there is no lack of intimacy, as Mae kisses him continually, out of sheer adoration.

A vivid example of violation of privacy is the LuvLuv application which helps an iser gain complete information of someone else. As FRAncis goes up and reveals information about Mae, we see her react quite astoundingly a sshe is quite repulsed by the open revelation of her information. We see as the intimacy begins to recede as she is extremely angry at Francis, also fearful of the accuracy of the information and also worried that it wasn’t accurate enough.Later in the novel, the lack of privacy is replaced with a man who appears quite mysterious and in unavailable on any of the Circle records. Here, the intimacy between him and Mae is quite accurately presented since both of them are quite unaware of each other, yet experienced an exceedingly strong attraction. We now see Mae’s dissatisfaction due to the fact that he had such a secretive background as  opposed to her dissatisfaction with Francis’s incessant need to overshare.

We see Mae’s growing frustration as she is unable to locate Kalden, as she continues to have sexual fantasies of him while also blaming him for not being available anywhere online. We see on page 197, as she yearns to eliminate the uncertainty, the same which had added intimacy to her life. It is quite astounding how the engigmatic nature of a man drew Maw towards him. She even resorts to looking for him on LuvLUv but is extremely disappointed because she’s unable to do so.  Thus, she resorts to forcing herself to think that she needed someone who could be “known” and “located”, ie Francis. Thus, although Mae yearns for knowledge, she doesn’t realise that true intimacy lay in knowing a person physically and not through online sources, Thus, the relationship between inti,cay and privacy is quite inverse, since too much information eradicates the act of being intimate.

 

All that happens will be known.

Overwhelmed and excited- these are the emotions that Mae feels as she joins The Circle and I think I feel very similarly to that. The vastness and abundance of resources in The Circle is quite similar to that of Penn State, since all the amenities required for a comfortable lifestyle are available to us. This abundance of amenities is brought out when Renata points of yoga studios, pools etc. I think this really adds to the feeling of community as you have everything you want, so accessible to you.

There is also the custom of naming the buildings and streets to make everything seem even more comforting; in The Circle, it’s after historical eras whereas at Penn State, it’s after people who have made some incredible contributions to the school. I think the choice of names at Penn State make everything so much easier because there are too many buildings to count and sometimes it gets hard to navigate if the buildings and streets were named as peculiarly as they are.

One of the first words that come to mind when we think about Penn State is family, There is an intense sense of belonging, which rubs off as soon as one enters the premises. That sense of community has also been established in the novel through the general enthusiasm of the workers in response to their ultimate boss, which is brought out in the lines “The applause thundered through the room.”, on page 71. I think the  positive and energetic responsiveness to higher authority is quite similar to what we see in Penn State; there is no fear or resentment, only respect and admiration.

However, there is a major distinction in both the communties, since The Circle seems to more of a cage whereas Penn State is so much more open to new people. The chant of the Circle is also  incredibly disturbing whereas at Penn State, the chants of “We Are” puts forward a collective team spirit not a brainwashing agenda, such as that of the Circle’s “All that happens must be known”. This also puts forth a very important digression- Penn state greatly values the privacy of their residents whereas the Circle completely disregards that, which can be seen through the general purpose of TruYu.

I think what I see as the primary difference between Penn State and the Circle, is that they are both communities which aim at offering the people what they desire. However Penn State is more so of something that grows onto you because of the general grace of it all whereas the Circle is something that is forced down in order to attain a coveted lifestyle. I think we are all incredibly fortunate to be in a community that is as flexible yet homely and there’s nothing I would like better than to call myself a part of this incredible family.