"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.