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Book II, Part 1

Summary: Book II, Part 1 

Mae now wears a camera twenty-four hours a day. Much of Congress, collapsing from the pressure, has gone transparent as well. Now that she has gone transparent, Mae’s follower count has ballooned to 2.1 million and is in the top ten of PartiRank, the participation rank system at the Circle. A rumor begins floating around the office about something called Completion, but no one knows what it means. Mae is sent to the Circle’s aquarium to capture a special company event where Stenton will place a transparent shark from the Marianas Trench found by his state-of-the-art submarine into the tank. Bailey becomes visibly uncomfortable watching the shark’s aggressive behavior.

Kalden calls Mae, saying he has momentarily blocked her audio and that they need to meet. He anxiously alludes to Completion and how it will be harmful to humanity. Mae goes back to her desk, apprehensive to meet him because she’s being tracked. She begins answering Customer Experience questions as usual, but she’s now bogged down by a company policy called “reciprocity,” where she has to interact more directly with customers and answer more personal questions for them. Mae runs into Annie while recording a new sculpture at the Circle. Annie seems uncomfortable talking to Mae now that Mae’s being filmed. Annie tries to play along, telling Mae’s viewers about a new program she’s working on called PastPerfect which allows a person to track their family history. She then asks Mae to go with her to the restroom, because she knows Mae is allowed to turn her camera off there. During their conversation, it’s clear Annie feels envious of Mae’s newfound attention and rank at the Circle, and they try to outdo each other by talking about which information they’re privy to that the other isn’t. After Annie leaves, Mae breaks down in tears. 

At her biweekly checkup, Dr. Villalobos tells Mae that her parents have been covering up the SeeChange cameras installed in their home to track her father’s care. Mae, embarrassed, says she’ll talk to them right away. On the drive home, Mae bitterly compares her family to Annie’s, who can trace their lineage back to the Mayflower. At dinner, Mae’s parents act awkwardly, trying to seem normal on camera. Before Mae leaves, her mother hands her a note from Mercer. She reads the note live on camera. In the letter, Mercer explains that he can’t see Mae again and that he was responsible for covering her parents’ cameras, adding that Mae and the Circle have taken things too far. When Mae reenters the house to ask her parents if they are truly uncomfortable with the cameras, she accidentally walks in on them having sex. They’re all horrified. Mae calls Bailey to delete the video, but he refuses, saying for their transparency experiment to work, it has to be absolute. 

Analysis: Book II, Part 1 

Much of Congress has fallen under the Circle’s transparency campaign. Those who resist are made into pariahs or scandalized. Political power has now almost completely shifted to the Circle, making the message clear that technology and its power to captivate and hold the public’s attention can border on totalitarian-like control.

Mae’s gone transparent, too. This is new for Mae, and she dutifully tries to capture and record what she can to reach her “fans.” Mae’s transparency, however, is threatening her relationship with Annie. They can no longer have authentic conversations, and Annie is visibly uncomfortable talking to Mae. Their conversations “split” into two, the ones they have on camera and the ones they have in the bathroom. They are now operating as two personas with each other, one public and one private. This shows the potential for tech to divide not only friendships but also one’s personality.

Mae’s newfound relevance at the Circle also threatens her friendship with Annie because she’s usurping Annie’s place as a high-ranking Circler. Mae has risen through the ranks and is now on par with Annie’s popularity. While Annie’s popularity was based on her naturally ebullient, welcoming, and disarming personality, Mae’s popularity has been manufactured. Readers begin to see the differences between Mae and Annie, which were suggested at the beginning of the novel. Mae is more insecure than Annie, and after they squabble in the restroom stalls, Mae is left crying. Mae always feels at a disadvantage to Annie simply because of Annie’s higher socioeconomic status. This difference has always weighed on Mae, whereas to Annie, such things don’t cross her mind. Annie’s welcoming to anyone, and unintimidated by anyone. For a young person whose values are shaped by capitalist American culture, a person’s family or economic background can shape their insecurities.

The transparent shark is an overt symbol to both Stenton and the Circle itself. Transparent or not, the shark is going to behave like a shark, just like Circle will behave as it wants, seeking domination and control over the web. Stenton, who is compared to a shark earlier in the novel, has the animal placed in the tank as an attraction. He doesn’t anticipate the animal’s savage behavior, but he also has no problem with it. Bailey does. He cringes when he sees the shark devour everything in its path. This shows the difference between the two men, and the shortsightedness of Bailey, for all his ethical grandstanding. Bailey’s morality-infused proclamations that making everything transparent will make society behave better are blind to the fact that transparency can lead to the utter destruction of society and the bonds that hold it together. Bailey’s failure to take in the shark’s behavior without protest betrays him. He may not be aware of the impact the Circle’s transparency campaign may have on public life, showing his lack of foresight and wisdom.

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