Mae was memorized by the “peaceful scene…Mae found herself temporarily lost in it.” The seahorses, octopus, and tuna enjoyed the large and spacious glowing environment that Stenton created. The Three Wise Men and Mae admired the scene, similar to how Mae fully admired the Circle…at first.

The release of the shark and the description of how it devours the tuna in one bite, and immediately seeks for the next victim to prey on is gruesome. It does not stop until the entire tank is empty. Until the shark was satisfied. Sounds similar to the company wanting to close the Circle completely, right? Why were the Three Wise Men, Bailey, Ty, and Stenton not surprised by the brutal act taking place in the tank. In fact, Bailey and Ty saw it coming, and Stenton admired the situation. Mae held herself together, but knew something was wrong, something was off…the company was the tank.

Employees work to please, they give up their life for the Circle, and Mae is the prime example. Her privacy is no longer existent, along with thousands of others who want to fit in. They in a sense want to “survive” just like the seahorse, tuna, and jelly fish. And the shark/the Three Wise Men, don’t make survival an option. SeeChange, TruYou, and Transparency were not an option once the Circle closed. The employees were controlled by some outer force. They had no defense to stop it.

This scene offers a clear analogy to the Circle. Illustrating how employees are losing their say in anything. Mae feels powerful, she has over “62million viewers” admiring what she is doing daily, but this power is consuming her. Is she falling into the trap/tank, where she will not be able to escape?

In the text it references Mae’s fear at the end of the savage attack by the shark. Her concern represents what she knows the company truly is…the Three Wise Men enjoyed the horrid attack taking place because they are not much different from the shark. Their idea that technology will eventually replace all forms of personal communication and privacy is presented as a glorious undertaking for newcomers, but Mae suddenly recognizes the dangers of the technological enforcement.

The scene of Mercer’s departure, and Mae’s addicted nature to find him to reveal his private longing continues to show the corruption behind the company. No one has the right to privacy anymore…not once the Circle closes. But this is completely wrong. The Mariana Trench creatures show what the closing of the Circle will create.

Kalden, “Ty the Wise Men,” knows what he has created is not okay. The world needs privacy he tells her, and she rats him out. Her values and morals are completely masked by the Circle. Mae no longer can see what is right from wrong. The closing scene, showing Annie in the hospital, and Mae wondering when the time will come that people’s thoughts will be knowable as public information, saying that “the world deserves nothing less and will not wait”. Why is Mae thinking about this when her “best friend” is in the hospital? Clearly, she has been eaten by the shark.