Category: The Circle

Mae irks me, and I am sure she is meant to do so to the readers. All along, you relate to her in her struggle between living the life you think she wants, one of privacy in intimate relationships, and freedom to travel, kayak, and simply exist, against the harsh, suffocating bubble of the Circle. Then, she begins to adjust to the environment and give into its ideologies. She stresses the importance of connectivity to her paretns, and in the process, publicly humiliates them. As Annie, once an ardent Circler, begins to whither away, Mae only increases in enthusiasm. Yet we still trust her, and so does Kalden. This is his downfall, and ours, as well.

In the end, Mae brings it upon herself to reveal Kalden’s plans to prevent the closing of the Circle. She is so entrenched in the community, and to me, I see her as a weak villain. She does not truly act alone, of her own accord, but is a glorified henchman. She admires her own role in the Circle and pats herself on the back, citing “her integrity… her strength, her resolve, and her loyalty” (Eggers 495). But don’t villains normally know what they are doing to be evil? I know the Joker surely did, and so did Darth Vader, and Hannibal Lecter. They had malicious intents. Maybe this is why The New York Times defined Mae as “dull”. She is not vengefully minded, but her mindset can surely be detrimental to many. In the final pages of the book, we find her watching over a comatose Annie, and struggling with the idea that something could be private: “What precisely was happening in [Annie’s] mind was unknown to all, and Mae couldn’t help feeling some annoyance about this” (496). I think this is what is most threatening about Mae. She is not only sucked in by the Circle, but influenced to the point of action.

Why does Egger’s try to anger us (or surprise us, whichever way you interpret it)? Maybe he is taking us down off our metaphorical high horse. Here we sit, reading this novel, judging a character and thinking about just how much better we would react given this situation. Would we really, though? If you were offered a job at Google, or some other global corporation with significant influence, great benefits, and all we think we would ever need for day-to-day living, would we question their ethics? I would like to say I would, and I think we can all say that from a moral standpoint, we would hope for this, too. There is a possibly that we would not, though, and Eggers reminds us of this. He shows us that it is possible to just sit back and watch our world and culture change. We can watch our society become frighteningly transparent and technologically savvy, but through our disappointment with someone we once perceived as a heroine, he reminds us that this is not what we want for our future.

As the Circle clearly notes, there is no true intimacy without privacy. This is evidenced in a romantic (and somewhat unromantic) sense through Mae’s interactions with Francis and Kalden. Likewise, in our own lives, we can see the lack of personal connection between those close to us, as we reveal more and more of ourselves to the public eye.

Mae’s relationships with Francis and Kalden provide a clear contrast in the realm of privacy with regard to amorousness and dating. The time Mae spends with Francis is often enveloped in concern over how others may interpret their union. As Mae passionately kisses Francis one evening, she cannot help but “wonder if his eyes were open, if he cared about the passersby who clucked or who hooted but still passed by” (Eggers 117). Mae subconsciously considers the opinions of the public, people who are completely uninvolved with their romance. In doing so, although she is physically close and intimate to Francis, she distances herself from him mentally, thereby losing the ability to become intimate with him on a more cognitive level. Similarly, Francis cares little for secretive engagements, and instead attempts to use his intimacy with Mae to make him feel socially superior. Following a sexual innuendo with Francis, Mae realizes that she was being filmed during what she had perceived as private time with him. She also comes to the sudden understanding that this sensitive footage will be added to the Circle cloud, and could be seen by anyone. For her, this is taking sharing too far, and she is enraged. On the other hand, Francis insists that he must keep this “memento” as a way to bolster his self esteem: “You have to understand how much this means to me. I’m not some stud. This is a rare occasion for me, to have something like this happen” (205). To him, intimacy goes hand-in-hand with sharing and reliving a moment, not the comfort of it being kept private.

Kalden insists upon keeping romance undisclosed, and causes Mae to contemplate and feel a need for this different type of intimacy. He finds ways to meet her without the knowledge of others, and she finds this exciting. She becomes mystified by the idea that “only the two of them would ever know” of their rendezvous (246). This is almost against her newly developed spirit of transparency fostered by the policies of the Circle, and she questions, “Why [is] this some glittering thing she needed?” (246). She does not understand why she feels so much more united to Kalden than to others, but feels an innate need to be with him in a very personal way, secluded from the public eye.

In a way, I think Mae’s inner turmoil with the ideas of intimacy and privacy are representative of much of humanity’s interactions with others and technology. Although we often share our relationship status online, or try to impress others with the thoughtfulness of our significant others in an Instagram post, these actions are futile. We still have a deeper want for face-to-face communication and real, personal contact.

Although I am a much stronger supporter of the culture of Penn State than I am that of the fictional Circle, there are some undeniable similarities between the two. The spirit of both hinge on involvement and shared information. It is an expectation to join teams, groups, and organizations at University Park in order to fully immerse oneself in the community. Just as Mae is bombarded with e-mails about social activism groups and potluck dinners, the ListServs we signed up for at the Activities’ Fair seem to always share some new information. I cannot count how many times an upperclassman told me that, as a freshman, “No matter what, [I] should just get involved”. This is exactly what we are doing as we attend the first meetings of new clubs, and try out what we like.

On the other hand, one of the Circle’s mantras is “All That Happens Must Be Known” (Eggers 68). “All” is a very severe word. They believe information to be a public entity, free for all to read, hear, or see. This greatly interferes with the personal and romantic life of Mae. Penn State, as an institution, has quite an adjusted version of this school of thought. Although some information is most definitely private, details regarding events linked to public safety are quickly put on display in the form of “Timely Warning” notices e-mailed to us, and posted around campus. However, many students take the novel’s “Sharing is Caring” (305) idea into their own lives. Although social media is playing a big part in changing this landscape, a large campus still provides a sense of anonymity. Yes, if you SnapChat something exciting enough, you may end up on the Campus Story for the rest of the student body to see, but it is still also rather possible to pass thousands of students in a day who you do not know, and may not ever become acquainted with. We are still one step removed from the intensity of shared play-by-play communication found at the Circle, but only a small step.