The Circle

Mae returns to shore and is met by two police officers who were notified by a concerned neighbor, as well as by someone who watched Mae’s actions via a SeeChange camera. Mae is accused of theft and sits in the back of the patrol car while the officers talk on the phone with Marion (the owner of the rental facility). Marion comes to the premises and tells the officers that Mae is a regular customer and was simply late with returning a kayak. The police let her go.

That night, Mae can barely sleep. She chastises herself for being stupid enough to put herself in a position where she could have lost everything. In the morning, she feels “as if she’d woken up from a nightmare to know it hadn’t happened. The slate was blank and she went to work” (274). However, Mae is soon called into Dan’s office. He knows that she got in trouble with the police and makes clear the seriousness of the situation. He shows her the SeeChange footage, which reveals that she wavered, clearly knowing she was doing something wrong. He asserts that she was being selfish by only considering her own immediate desires. Mae is afraid that she’s about to be fired, and she gasps when she learns that Bailey, one of the Wise Men, has taken an interest in her situation and wants to meet her.

After her shift, Mae is brought to Bailey’s office. He doesn’t seem upset with her and asks if she would have acted differently if she had known she was on camera. Mae says that if she had known, she wouldn’t have taken the kayak. This speaks to Bailey’s point, which is that people will hold themselves more accountable if they know they are being watched. Mae makes it known that she fears for her job security, but Bailey grins and assures her that she is completely safe in her employment. He asks her if there is ever a good time to keep a secret. She waffles but leans toward responding in the negative. This sparks a philosophical discussion led by Bailey. He ties secret-keeping to politics, noting that if all nations’ ambitions were public knowledge, there would be greater trust between countries. Therefore, it would be less likely that a country would go to war over fear of another country’s possible ambitions.

Mae wonders aloud if Bailey believes that everyone should know everything. He replies, “Of course not. But I am saying that everyone should have a right to know everything, and should have the tools to know anything. There’s not enough time to know everything, though I certainly wish there was” (288). Ultimately, he believes that eliminating secrets and enacting full transparency will create “a world where bad choices are no longer an option, [and people] have no choice but to be good” (292).

Bailey asks Mae if there’s anything more that she’d like to share with him, and she reveals that—despite implying that she hadn’t—she has indeed been in Bailey’s office before when Annie took her on a tour. He already knew this, and she admits she feels better for bringing it out into the open.

At Dream Friday, Mae joins Bailey on stage. They recreate the conversation they had in his office, including details from Mae’s kayaking escapade. As the presentation nears its conclusion, illuminated on the giant screen are three slogans that came from Mae: “Secrets Are Lies,” “Sharing Is Caring,” and “Privacy Is Theft.” It is revealed that Mae will immediately go transparent.