The Circle

Published in 2013, Dave Eggers’ The Circle is a dystopian novel set in the near future. It is told from the perspective of protagonist Mae Holland. She has landed a job at the Circle, which is a monopolistic tech company led by the Three Wise Men: Eamon Bailey, Ty Gospodinov, and Tom Stenton. The Circle has cultivated a positive image through its ostensible missions of improving human rights and democracy, as well as by making it easier for people to connect globally. Nonetheless, the Circle has tyrannical ambitions to control all the world’s information.

The novel commences with Mae’s first day at the Circle. She has gotten the job through her close friend Annie Allerton, who is a senior Circler and serves as Mae’s support system while she acclimates to her surroundings. Mae quickly falls in love with the Circle’s modernity and considers the campus utopic. At the company, seemingly all information, personal and otherwise, is tracked. This, the Circle claims, will improve efficiency and accountability. Mae works in Customer Experience, where she quickly excels.

The Circle launches a campaign to install tiny, internet-accessible cameras throughout the world. Back in her hometown, Mae’s ex-boyfriend, Mercer, expresses great concern over the Circle’s increasing threat to self-ownership. He annoys Mae, who considers him to be stuck in past ways. Mae’s father is suffering from MS. Her parents struggle to control the symptoms. Mae can get them on Circle insurance, which greatly improves the quality of their lives.

Mae develops romantic involvement with two coworkers: Kalden and Francis Garaventa. Kalden is a mysterious character who warns Mae about dangers posed by the Circle’s ambitions. Francis is working on a project called TruYouth, which aims to eliminate child abductions. Francis pursues Mae, and she enjoys the power she holds over him.

Mae is taken into police custody for taking a kayak from a rental agency. She is released without charges, but the Circle knows what happened. Circle leader Bailey takes an interest in Mae’s situation. He uses her transgression to convince her to go transparent—broadcasting her entire day, every day. After going transparent, Mae’s life drastically changes. Her deep personal relationships become increasingly supplanted by superficial interactions on social media.

The Circle creates a new program, SoulSearch, that uses crowdsourcing to track down anyone in the world who is hiding. While giving a live demonstration in front of thousands of Circlers, Mae uses SoulSearch to find Mercer, who has moved to rural Oregon to be out of the Circle’s reach. His location is quickly determined, and the live video shows locals chasing him down as he drives into the wilderness. Mercer commits suicide by driving off a cliff. Though Mae played a central role in provoking Mercer’s suicide, she carries on with her work at the Circle, relatively undisturbed by the tragedy.

As Mae ascends at the Circle, she eclipses Annie’s status. Annie becomes jealous and tries to regain her higher rank by volunteering to be the guinea pig for PastPerfect. Through this project, Annie’s family history is publicly documented. When shameful information is discovered about Annie’s family, she descends into a nervous breakdown that leaves her comatose.

Mae is the brains behind a new project called Demoxie. By law, all citizens will be required to have a Circle account, through which they must participate in democracy. Kalden, whose double identity has been revealed as Circle founder Gospodinov, tries to persuade Mae to derail the Circle’s pursuits. However, she declines his request and reports him to Circle leaders Bailey and Stenton.

Mae watches Annie breathe through a respirator, still comatose. On a screen, she sees bursts of color that indicate brain activity. She will talk to Bailey and Stenton about how to access the thoughts existing inside people’s minds.