Power in "The Circle"

*HUGE SPOILER ALERT*



     The Circle by Dave Eggers is a scary book. Well, maybe not scary, but ominous. In the near future, a young woman named Mae gets a job at a large Internet company called the Circle. The job comes with amazing perks, like dorms for people who work late and a fully stocked and operational health clinic. As Mae rises through the ranks of the Circle and becomes distant from life outside of it, it is clear to the reader that the Circle has power in the text.

     The Circle's goal is transparency. It started off as a network meant to combine all of your online profiles into one account - your 'TruYou' account. Because you had to use your real name and information, it eliminated Internet anonymity. Over time, the Circle evolved into a larger technology company, interested in safety and clarity not just online but everywhere. When Mae first enters the Circle, she meets a man who is working on a tracking device to be implanted into small children with the intent of eliminating kidnappings. However, not all of the Circle's endeavors are as noble. There are slogans plastered all over the campus, and later in the book Mae helps to create a few: "privacy is theft" and "secrets are lies." Honestly, when I got to this part of the book, I could smell the brainwash in the air.

     In the book, the Circle has power. Its power is shown through the main character, Mae Holland. When she begins work at the Circle, she is simply happy to be working at a place that is changing the world, rather than a boring desk job at the utility building in her hometown. She soon discovers that being a part of the Circle is a 24-hour job. She is expected to answer survey questions, be active on Zing (some form of social network, most like Twitter), and be a part of several on-campus groups. She is pulled into Human Resources for not posting about a kayaking trip she takes. When a minor crime Mae has committed comes to light, she is forced to become "transparent" - she wears a camera around her neck, and anyone who wants to can see what she's doing. Transparency is meant to ensure that nothing shady is going on where no one can see it, and many politicians became transparent as soon as they could. After all, secrets are lies.

     Mae never sees why any of this is wrong. She allows herself to be brainwashed. The Circle's power over her is clear and absolute. Mae's parents and her ex-boyfriend Mercer see the Circle and its goals as wrong and nosy, but the Circle still holds power over them. Mae's father has multiple sclerosis, and was covered by Mae's fancy health insurance plan as long as he and her mother installed cameras around their home. However, they quickly become uncomfortable with the cameras, first covering them up and then leaving, refusing to speak to Mae around cameras and through social media. The Circle forces them out of their home, but they still depend on it to pay for Mae's father's medicine. They disapprove of the Circle, but it still controls parts of their lives.

     Then, there is Mae's ex-boyfriend Mercer. Mercer is against social media in general. Soon after Mae starts working at the Circle, she and Mercer get into a big fight about social media. Mercer claims that Mae is willingly giving herself and her personality to the Circle (which she is). Mercer also cuts off contact with Mae, and attempts to go underground, away from the Circle. Towards the end of the book, Mae helps to test out a new Circle service that makes it possible to find anyone in the world using the power of Circle users all over the globe. She asks for Mercer Medeiros. People all around the world begin to search for Mercer, and he is located in the woods in Oregon. He tries to drive away, but he's chased by drones with cameras onto a bridge. Mercer drives his truck off of the bridge to avoid being caught. The Circle - or rather, the people of the Circle, caused him to kill himself.

     The Circle is in complete power in this text, and not many seem to know that. Not even one of the heads of the Circle understands how completely it has taken over the world. After Mercer's death, he remarks to Mae, "I know this is tangential... but really: there'd be no chance of that happening if Mercer was in a self-driving vehicle." He truly believes that the Circle's endeavors are making the world a better place, and so does Mae.


(Edit 12/3/13: My dad read this post, and his first comment was that I had better never date anybody named Mercer.)