Cameras and Tanks

        The SeeChange cameras in the Circle are the catalysts to all users losing their privacy. While presenting these new cameras, which are barely the size of a lollipop and can be installed almost anywhere without their knowledge, Bailey uses naive reasons to explain the benefits of SeeChange. "You want to go to Fiji but can't get there? SeeChange. You want to check your kid at school? SeeChange. This is ultimate transparency. No filter. See everything. Always." Although Bailey uses positive and innocent reasons such as travel and checking on loved ones, there is a much darker side to these cameras as well. People can be watched without their own knowledge, finding almost any person in the world is only a search away. Stalkers could use this tool to keep an eye on their person of interest, and the Circle is able to view any users or employees without their knowledge. These SeeChange cameras represent hundreds of thousands of people without privacy, who haven't even realized they've lost it.

         Within the Circle campus, Stenton (one of the Wise Men), has been working with rare aquatic species of octopus, seahorse babies, and a vicious shark. Stenton and the Wise Men gather with Mae and her transparency camera in order to capture an act Stenton has been planning: to put these animals all in one tank in order to see “how creatures like this cohabitate”, as Bailey explains it. However, Stenton has different plans, and this interesting event takes an unexpected turn. After peacefully adding the octopus and seahorse, Bailey is hesitant about unleashing the shark into the tank, and his caution is justified once the shark is added, and almost immediately goes after the octopus, and "ripped it's prey's tentacles one-by-one", and then "devoured the thousand babies, and the seaweed, and the coral, and the anemones". However, even after this, Stenton remains calm and admiring, as he “couldn’t get enough of the shark”. This situation symbolizes that trying to make the Circle co-exist with other companies and organizations such as the government is impossible. The Circle has become the shark of the technological world, and devour whatever may attempt to occupy its tank.

"It improves nothing."

           Throughout The Circle, we see the numerous employees of the company, countless numbers of users, and even a substantial amount of diplomats become blind to their own privacy and “ancient” technology, and inevitably fall into the Circle’s grasp. However, in contrast to these groups, there is one individual in the novel who remains ready to fight the Circle’s movement: Mercer. Mercer is Mae’s ex-boyfriend, who builds chandeliers out of antlers and is still close to Mae’s parents, manages to see through the fog of fancy new devices and dedicated supporters of the Circle, showing readers a new perspective not provided by any other character within the book. Through the fog of technology lies the negative potential of the inventions being manufactured in the Circle. Mercer realizes that SeeChange cameras can not only be used to view an exotic vacation spot on a computer screen, but also stalk a pretty girl from your High School. Mercer realizes that the glass screen of a phone constantly buzzing with notifications about ‘zings’, ‘smiles’, and ‘frowns’, can also serve as a barrier between true human communication and a society of endless profiles and fast typers. Mercer attempts to share his perspective with Mae, but only results in offending her.

           The true conflict arises when Mae becomes transparent, and is joined by hundreds of thousands of people every day. As Mae becomes more involved within the Circle and its questionable developments, Mercer becomes more aggressive. He write numerous letters filled with strong opinions against the Circle and the society is that created, which he insists Mae reads to her community of viewers. These viewers see these letters as personal attacks from Mercer, and continually bash him with their immature and irrelevant opinions. Eventually, Mercer sees that his views will never be shared by neither Mae nor her loyal spectators, and he does the only thing he can to avoid them: run. But even when running, Mae and her fellow Circle employees manage to defeat Mercer, showing the reader that the Circle is really a new empire that has the potential to destroy every single individual that stands in its way. 

All That Happens Must Be Known

       I believe that this is a dystopian novel because of one of the main motto of the Circle: “All That Happens Must Be Known”. Throughout the novel, the circle develops more and more inventions that revolve around this concept. We see TruYou users around the world succumb to bright, shiny, new technology and unintentionally give up their privacy. The Circle broadens their concept of “All That Happens Must Be Known” by inventing objects such as SeeChange cameras, small cameras that can be installed everywhere that capture footage which can be viewed by anyone. However, without the context in which this technology is presented in being painted with charisma and glamour, one may start to realize what a violation of privacy it is. SeeChange cameras could lead to people behind watched for inappropriate purposes without even realizing it.

       The people that may be most impacted by the Circle’s overseeing nature are the circle are the employees themselves. Mae finds herself constantly encompassed by multiple screens containing ratings, messages, articles, and invites to numerous circle events. This may already seem overwhelming, but even more overwhelming than this is the need to reply to as many messages and attend as many events related to the Circle as possible. When Mae tried to leave the Circle during weekends and missed out on many socials, she was confronted by her boss, Dan, who told her that she must be more involved within the Circle.

       Not only does the Circle always watch their employees, but they also take control of their personal lives. Near the end of the novel, Mae aids the Circle by coming up with a concept they name Demoxie (Democracy with your own Moxie). The Circle starts with a simple concept, but the potential of this Demoxie being used for elections to eradicate the need of a government or congress is a frightening picture of the Circle taking over the entire American republic. All of these aspects scream one main dystopian concept: Totalitarianism. The Circle aims to be the people’s government and leader by monopolizing each facet of a citizen’s life one-by-one, like a large creature in the ocean eating every fish that it lays its eyes upon. The Circle will not be satisfied until they own every company, control every person, and know everything.

Annie. The blonde one.

       In the beginning of The Circle, Annie is described a “doofus”. A cute, blonde,  gangly, effervescent doofus. We start with a knowledge of general information about Annie: she’s adored and looked up to because she is a member of the Gang of 40, an elite group at the Circle that oversees many inventions who made sure her roommate from college and best friend, Mae, got a job at the Circle. As the story starts to pick up, we see more sides to Annie, starting with her massive sense of humor and mischief. At the beginning of the novel, she plays a prank on Mae by leading her into a fake cubical with an old laptop, squeaky chair, and “fucking burlap”. There’s also many instances where her reputation and power at the Circle is shown, like when she leads Mae to the Ochre Library at the Circle campus, which was designed by one of the Circle Wise Men, and not supposed to be seen by new employees. Also, when one of Mae’s coworkers, Gina, sees Mae casually messaging Annie, she says “I’m jealous you know her so well”.

       However as the novel continues, we start seeing a more cautious and fearful side of Annie’s personality. After Annie says that a worker at the circle named Alistair, calling him "crazy" and a "Needy nut", and Dan, who "enables the nuts" to Mae, she seems to immediately realize her mistake. Afterwards, she panics and messages Mae 11 times to confirm that everything she says remains between them, set on protecting her position and reputation within the Circle. Once she sees Mae gaining mass popularity in the Circle, Annie decides to show off her position within the company to Mae by joining an experiment called PastPerfect. However, while in this experiment, many dark secrets about Annie’s past is revealed. With every new dismal fact, Annie becomes more depressed and vulnerable. Seeing such a once happy and positive character slowly break down through pages of text and unfortunate events is not the most cheerful reading experience, but the author does a great job in adding more depth to Annie’s character in the Circle.