If you were to think of everything in life in a logical process, any person, society or event can be thought of as a machine. All objects and operations have moving parts, used resources, and procedures to create outputs to better situations. How and why these outputs are invented may be debatable, but machines operate under the guidance of their leaders. In this way of thinking, Stenton’s shark is somewhat of a machine. It’s body and organs are the parts and its purpose is to consume as much as possible to survive. Now, just as mentioned before, machines are under the control of their masters. So, considering the feeders and trainers are following the direction of Mr. Stenton, the shark becomes a product of him. Therefore, if you look beyond the animals initial actions, one can notice that the shark is directly symbolic of the rest of the The Circle in the idea that is has no regard for the things it consumes and forces itself to be the most powerful being in the society.
“They needed to talk about Annie, the thoughts she was thinking. Why shouldn’t they know them? The world deserved nothing less and would not wait” (Eggers 497). The ending of the book shows how Mae has transformed and become what Kalden feared she would. But what it truly shows is the dominating power of the technology company. Just as the shark is the product of the Stenton’s mind, so is The Circle. It survives by consuming all available data and systems to become the most influential and authoritative company. The shark operates to be the only competitor in the market and will work to find any possibility to better itself. It goes to show that the animal is a symbolic of the tech company.
On page 479, Bailey remarks, “‘When the shark is released, we’ll get, for the first time in history, a real look at how life at the bottom of the trench really looks, and how creatures like this cohabitate’” (Eggers 479). In the end, his plan goes completely wrong. The shark ends up becoming the alpha male of the group and eats anything that moves inside the tank. It goes to show that a beast that powerful simply can not coexist with anything of equal or less power. It reflects the same values and beliefs of The Circle.
This pivotal section of the book also teases a sense of foreshadowing. The Wise Men assemble an audience to watch the feeding because they believe they have constructed a wonder for the human eye that will easily coexist. But, once brought to light, they finally see that once set free, such a powerful being will not be stopped. They have given it the chance to become so vigorous, but they do not understand that it directly correlates to their own company. As it grows and attempts to control every aspect of human life it essentially becomes the shark: dominating its ecosystem by being the only possible predator in the market.
One Comment
on “Shark Tank”
One Comment on “Shark Tank”
I also wrote about the Marianas Trench creatures in my final Circle blog, but I think we took slightly different directions in analyzing it. However, it is interesting that we both connected this event to essentially the same theme. I like your comparison of the shark to a machine that is under the control of its masters: Stenton, Ty, and Bailey. That said, couldn’t one argue that this “machine” isn’t really under their control? Just like the shark, the Circle seems to have taken on a mind of its own and converged in a direction that the Wise Men never intended it to go. I believe that they all had virtuous intentions when first creating the company, but it has grown into a destructive being, much like the shark. It is hard to miss the symbolism in this part of the novel because it so clearly foreshadows the fate of the Circle and society in general. I found this part of the novel compelling because Egger’s gets across his message about the dangers of an all-encompassing internet monopoly in a creative way.