The Consequences of Transparency in The Circle

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Dave Eggers’ novel the The Circle has taken a more cynical and dark twist. Book two starts out with Mae demonstrating transparency. Before, readers were aware of the many politicians going transparent either voluntarily or involuntarily. Those who chose not to go transparent were ousted from the political community and were scrutinized by the general public. Many were suspected of hiding secrets from the public and eventually faded away from the political arena. In essence, the Circle had a grasp of America’s politics through the medium of “transparency”. This is when the Circle became more than a technology company. It became a player in politics in Washington. Unfortunately, Mae’s shift to transparency represents the very moment the Circle’s goal, as a company, became more twisted and dark.

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One aspect of a distortion caused by the Circle is the fact that Mae’s transparency really isn’t transparent. Through AG, or Additional Guidance, Mae is given direction on how to carry herself out throughout her day. Essentially, Mae’s viewers are getting to witness what the Circle wants them to see and think; Mae hasn’t gone transparent in the strictest definition. Though this may seem minor and unnecessarily detailed, one must remember that transparency was a highly discussed and controversial topic in the novel. Politicians and public figures were getting back lashes for not going transparent and revealing their true daily life styles. Hypocritically, Mae, here, isn’t revealing her true life style either. In the novel, what she reveals to her audiences and what she thinks aren’t cohesive. The incident with Kalden is a perfect example of Mae acting contrary to her true desires. This distortion created by hypocrisy within the Circle is just the beginning of how the Circle’s plan of completing itself will unfold.

The over reach by the Circle eventually led them to control the election in this fictitious setting. Mae, in a high-profile Circle meeting, suggests the Circle to step in and be the medium of general elections. Now, controlling the election has been a touchy subject in any democracies around the real world. However, in the Circle, Mae, her co-workers, her viewers, Bailey, and Stenton, all accept this ridiculous and ideologically dangerous proposal of Mae with interest and intent to actually carry it. This scene is a solid representation of a simple, possibly laughable, idea becoming reality and convincing people of great intelligence and credibility. Stenton, a key figure in the Circle, says this: “If we can know the will of the people at any time, without filter, without misinterpretation or bastardization, wouldn’t it eliminate much of Washington?” (Eggers 395). This is exactly what the Circle has caused: an elimination of politics in a modern, civilized state. Now, though many people might hold a negative stance on politics because of the 2016 Election Campaign, it still is crucial in a civilized society. Through argument and compromise, politics try to find policies that benefit the most people in a state. By eliminating politics, in the Circle, America would eliminate discussion and debates from their legislative process; this is very dangerous in any democracy.

Mae’s transparency has shown us that a simple ideology or action can blow up to change a political process that has benefited many countries throughout time. Transparency, devised by the Circle, is both a hypocritical and dangerous system to apply among regular civilians. It might bring about change that can bring severe consequences.


picture 1: http://digitaldealer.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/transparency2.jpg

picture 2: http://www.advancementproject.org/page/-/images/news/voting%20line.jpg

 

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