The Circle

“All that happens must be known.”

For the first time in the novel, Bailey makes The Circle’s main objective clear: to make all knowledge universally available. He paints this goal in an idealist light, arguing that full transparency will prevent atrocities. However, he neglects to consider the potential downsides of large-scale privacy invasion.

“‘We will become all-seeing, all-knowing.’”

In Bailey’s claim that they will become omniscient, he is elevating technology to a godlike status. In response to this declaration, the Circlers’ thunderous applause makes it seem like they are revering a messiah.

“She didn’t move and the seal didn’t move. They were locked in mutual regard, and the moment, the way it stretched and luxuriated in itself, asked for continuation. Why move?”

Between her sadness about her father’s health and her excitement about her new career, Mae finds a moment for self-reflection. During this encounter, she seems to draw inspiration from the seal’s ability to be content with simply existing.

“A good only child would spend the next three to five years, which might be his last years of mobility, of full capability, with him, helping him, helping her mother, being part of the family machinery.”

Mae considers the moral implications of her professional pursuits. She thinks that she is perhaps being selfish. However, she also knows how important it is to her parents that she now works at The Circle. This quote foreshadows Mae’s later reliance on The Circle to provide her parents with health coverage.

“There were leopard sharks in this part of the bay, and bat rays, and jellyfish, and the occasional harbor porpoise, but she could see none of them. They were hidden in the dark water, in their black parallel world, and knowing they were there, but not knowing where, or really anything else, felt, at that moment, strangely right.”

Mae’s fleeting affinity for the unknown, symbolized by the ocean’s hidden sea creatures, provides a stark contrast to her work at The Circle. This contradiction adds depth to her character.

“She knew she was being improved just by being in the Circlers’ proximity. It was like a well-curated organic grocery store: you knew, by shopping there, that you were healthier; you couldn’t make a bad choice, because everything had been vetted already.”

This passage highlights Mae’s increasing affection for The Circle, as well as her belief that it is a utopian community. However, by assuming that The Circle is making the correct lifestyle choices on behalf of its employees, she is sacrificing individuality. This reflection also reveals a misplaced faith in corporations, assuming they have their customers’ best interests in mind rather than profit.

“She loved his taste, always clean, simple like lemon water, and how he would remove his glasses, look briefly lost, then would close his eyes and look almost beautiful, his face as smooth and uncomplicated as a child’s.”

Mae is charmed by Francis’s simplicity. While she knows she isn’t falling in love, she finds it easy to be with him, as shown through the similes she uses here. Comparing him to lemon water and a child highlights his simple nature.

“But she had a right to know where [Kalden] was. To at least know where he was, who he was. This was the unnecessary, and antiquated, burden of uncertainty.”

Mae feels that Kalden is not entitled to his privacy. This suggests that, instead of a right to privacy, Mae has come to believe that people have a right to all knowledge. Her worldview is now aligning with The Circle’s mission.

“[Kalden] had seemed supremely sensitive each time they’d met, but then, when apart, his absence, because it was total—and because total non-communication in a place like The Circle was so difficult, it felt like violence.”

Since beginning at The Circle, Mae’s views on what constitutes proper communication shift so dramatically that in an instance where she has no control over a desired interaction, she feels she is facing physical harm. This speaks to the “black rip” that she has begun feeling in her stomach.

“If you weren’t operating in the light of day, what were you doing in the shadows?”

This quote places the burden of proof on privacy advocates. It assumes guilt of those who don’t want to share their lives with the world.

“With the tools The Circle made available, Mae felt able to influence global events, to save lives even, halfway across the world.”

When SeeChange cameras are installed across campus, Mae feels empowered instead of violated. At this point, she realizes the influence that she can have as a Circler. Egger uses “influence,” a purposefully neutral term, to undermine the idea that all of Mae’s actions will have a positive impact.

“You willingly tie yourself to these leashes. And you willingly become utterly socially autistic. You no longer pick up on basic human communication clues. You’re at a table with three humans, all of whom are looking at you and trying to talk to you, and you’re staring at a screen, searching for strangers in Dubai.”

Mercer is unfiltered in his critique of Mae’s obsession with social media. He tries to make her more aware of the potential sinister intentions of The Circle, but she remains resistant to his claims. Mercer’s criticism of The Circle foreshadows its role in his death.

“It was enough to be aware of the million permutations possible around her, and take comfort in knowing she would not, and really could not, know much at all.”

Kayaking affords Mae an opportunity for introspection. She detaches herself from her Circle-oriented pursuits and basks in her fragile humanity. This shows that she is still capable of expressing thoughts that run counter to The Circle’s influence.

“We would finally be compelled to be our best selves. And I think people would be relieved. There would be this phenomenal global sigh of relief. Finally, finally we can be good. In a world where bad choices are no longer an option, we have no choice but to be good.”

Bailey states his motives for full transparency. However, he doesn’t offer clarification on what exactly it means to be “good.” In such a situation, people might be less compelled to do anything punishable. However, they might feel as though they can’t act naturally, which could lay a foundation for superficial relationships.

“The creature’s tentacles seemed to want to know everything: the shape of the glass, the topography of the coral below, the feel of the water all around.”

There is symbolic value in this captured octopus’s desire to know everything. While it may want to learn, The Circle controls its access to knowledge.

“Mae was driving home, having left work at five—something she hadn’t done in weeks—and was thinking of her parents, what kind of madness had overtaken them, and she was worried that somehow Mercer’s own madness had infected them.”

Through SeeChange cameras, The Circle’s doctors have been tracking Mae’s father’s health. To Mae, it seems illogical that her parents have instead chosen greater privacy. Mae has not left campus in weeks, and in this insular community, her idea of what constitutes normal has greatly shifted.

“They made lasagna, with Mae adding a few ingredients Additional Guidance had asked her to bring and display to watchers. When dinner was ready, and Mae had given adequate camera time to the products, they all sat down.”

Additional Guidance’s request for product placement calls into question the authenticity of Mae’s video diary. While product placement could simply be considered another true aspect of her life, it complicates the motives behind this experiment with transparency.

“It was comical and it was sad, and it served no purpose, to put off the undeniable present, the unavoidable future.”

Mae is critical of her parents’ and Mercer’s resistance to technological advancement. In her view, there is an established destiny and it is absurd to try to evade it.

“The flash opened up into something larger, an even more blasphemous notion that her brain contained too much. That the volume of information, of data, of judgments, of measurements, was too much, and there were too many people, and too many desires of too many people, and too many opinions of too many people, and too much pain from too many people, and having all of it constantly collated, collected, added and aggregated, and presented to her as if that all made it tidier and more manageable—it was too much.”

Mae has a moment of panicked clarity, seeing that The Circle’s mission runs against human nature. Eggers uses this internal monologue to critique the idea of technology replacing humans—the most advanced computer cannot match up to the capabilities of the human mind. While this moment is fleeting, it suggests that she is still capable of being critical of The Circle.

“I expect this is some second great schism, where two humanities will live, apart but parallel. There will be those who live under the surveillance dome you’re helping to create, and those who live, or try to live, apart from it. I’m scared to death for us all.”

Mercer remains unmoved in his opposition to The Circle. However, even he is conceding that The Circle’s reach is becoming inescapable. His attempt at life off the grid is ultimately futile as The Circle soon tracks him down.

“Actually, I don’t know if we should know everything.”

Annie’s remark here represents a climactic moment in her crisis of conscience. She was once a major figure in The Circle’s quest for full access to all knowledge, but her spirit has been crushed as a result of this goal.

“He wouldn’t know, yet, that it was she who was behind this. She needed to assure him this wasn’t some creepy stalking expedition. That it was his friend Mae, simply demonstrating their SoulSearch program, and all she wanted was to talk to him for a second, to laugh about this together.”

In this passage, Mae seems either disingenuous or disconnected from reality. At this point, she might truly believe that—while chasing down Mercer—she is operating within the bounds of normal behavior. However, it is also possible that she is using a sarcastic tone to make clear that she is winning their battle about the power of technology, stressing her unique access to that power.

“It’s like you were a doctor, coming to help a sick patient, and the patient, upon seeing this doctor, jumps out of the window.”

Bailey uses manipulation in a way that provides comfort. He convinces Mae that not only is she not responsible for Mercer’s death, but she made a heroic effort to prevent him from sealing his tragic fate. This brand of twisted logic convinces Circlers to continue their belief in the company’s mission.