Playing the Victim

Have you ever gotten in a fight with someone (who, may I add, was definitely at fault during the argument) that refuses to take the blame for his/her actions? Sometimes these people will even distort the situation and somehow miraculously spin the blame back on you; they always think they are the victims.

In The Circle, Mae often "plays the victim" in situations where other people suffer from her actions. She is completely convinced that what she is contributing to the Circle will help with completion, and that completion will help society as a whole. Therefore, Mae is unable to see that she is more a villain than a victim during disagreements regarding her involvement in the Circle. Mae completely shifts from being a victim to a villain when she is given the opportunity to end the Circle, yet doesn't.

In the beginning of the novel, Mae is viewed as the protagonist. Readers can relate to her struggles in her new job as she tries to assimilate herself in her new workplace environment. Mae is originally a victim of the Circle; she inadvertently offends people and isn't quick to accept her newfound reliability on social media. The readers feel for her and her difficulty adjusting to her new situation.

As the book progresses, however, Mae begins to distance herself from the reader. She causes distress to those closest to her, including her family, Mercer, and best friend, Annie. Not only does she not understand why these people will not agree with her, but she also never stops to listen to their perspective. As soon as she makes decisions that differ from our own opinions as readers, Mae begins to drift off out of our comfort zone; this disconnected feeling shifts our perspective of Mae from a victim to a villain nearly unconsciously.

One example of how Mae detaches herself from her friends and the reader is shown when she visits her parents for dinner. Mercer is there, as well, and he had given her parents one of his chandeliers prior to Mae's arrival. Upon seeing this gift, Mae compliments Mercer's craftsmanship profusely, and takes a picture of the chandelier to post online. However, she does not ask Mercer's permission first and ends up disturbing his desire to have a small, private practice. He becomes infuriated with her, saying, "'I don't want to get loud in here, in your parents' home, but either you stop or I have to walk out" (Eggers 259), which proves Mercer's disgust with who Mae has become. Making matters worse, Mae never apologizes for going behind Mercer's back; instead, she insults Mercer and defends herself, claiming she was only trying to help him. By the end of the scene, Mae loses Mercer entirely from her selfish actions. He is now viewed as the victim, and Mae the villain.

Eggers's ending strays from conventional book endings to show Mae's full transformation from a victim to a villain. She is given the opportunity to halt the Circle in its tracks and reverse its advancements. However, instead of listening to Ty, she completely disregards his warning and chooses to make the Circle stronger. There is no normal happy ending because she is no longer an innocent victim. The Circle becomes so powerful that it converts Mae into the antihero.



Work Cited:
Eggers, Dave. The Circle. New York: Vintage, 2013. Print.

The Real Life Shark Tank

With the exception of the iPhone 7's missing headphone jack, most new and innovative things thrill the public. It is our human nature to become excited over anything we haven't seen before; knowledge is, in a way, equal to power and strength. This amazement is what propels the Circle forward. People want to see what new ideas the company is going to conjure up next. In this section of the book, one of these captivating ideas is the introduction of the transparent shark. The shark is included in the book to symbolize the Circle by representing their ideal transparency. 

There are multiple similarities between the new shark and its owners. An obvious symbol of the Circle, this creature is able to completely devour anything in its path. The animal can quickly engulf what is weaker than itself; similarly, the Circle is able to practically brainwash people into thinking all their company ideals are what is best for society. Also, just as no other animal can defeat the shark, no one person (or even a group of people) is strong enough to defeat the Circle, not even its own creators. And by killing every other organism in the tank, the shark effectively establishes his dominance. This same characteristic is seen by the Circle; the company kills off all other forms of social media until only they remain standing. 

Like its owners, the shark also appears less harmful than reality at a first impression. Only once food is first presented to the shark does the animal start to become noticeably savage. This idea can be connected to the reader's impression of the Circle as the book goes on. Our first impression of the Circle, as readers, is a positive one. We believe the Circle to be an amazing company capable of producing many innovative ideas. But as time moves forward, we see the Circle for what it truly is: a limitless monopoly. When Mae describes the shark, saying it "had seemed only passingly menacing before, [but] now appeared vicious and wholly sentient, the embodiment of the predatory instinct" (Eggers 316), she shows how quickly the creature is able to turn dangerous. Once the shark starts a killing frenzy, everyone is powerless to stop it; the Circle is infallible in this same way.

The most prominent similarity, however, is the transparency of both the shark's body and the company's employees. I found it interesting that the reason this shark was so attractive in the eyes of the Circle is because of its transparent skin. Upon originally reading this section of the book, I thought to myself, "Who in their right mind would find pleasure in watching a vicious shark digest innocent sea creatures?" But after a further analysis of the meaning behind the shark, this vile idea made sense. Just as transparency allows people to see everything in a person's life (even the unpleasant and private personal details of their daily routines), the transparent shark body allows people to see digestive processes normally hidden behind opaque skin. As grotesque as it sounds, the shark can hide nothing, and the public is everything but disgusted by his shameless lifestyle. They see absolutely nothing wrong with watching people's private lives, so they show no repulsion towards the shark's vividly graphic digestion.

A symbol of the Circle, Stenton's shark takes the company's ideal of transparency to a deeper level. Persuasion is capable of changing not only individual ideals, but more importantly, the norms of society as a whole.

Work Cited:

Eggers, Dave. The Circle. New York: Vintage, 2013. Print.