The Circle

While awaiting Annie’s return, Mae thinks about Francis. She wants to bring him home that night. She shows her viewers a new campus sculpture by a Chinese dissident artist who has faced frequent trouble with Beijing authorities. Mae notes, “We’ve sent over 180 million frowns from the U.S. alone, and you can bet that has an effect on the regime” (347).

In the distance, Annie finally appears. It seems that Annie might be trying to avoid Mae. Nonetheless, Mae chases her down and introduces her to her watchers. Annie appears to be uncomfortable but talks a bit about her new project, PastPerfect. She explains that she was in Germany to work on this program. The goal is to “take the power of The Circle community and to map not just the present but the past, too” (351). Annie discusses how they’re “digitizing every photo, every newsreel, every amateur video in every archive in this country and Europe” (352). Ultimately, they intend to make every photo ever taken available online, with facial recognition technology making the people in the pictures identifiable. They hope to tell the full genealogical history of every person. Annie says that they don’t yet have a “guinea pig” for this project, but they’re looking for someone whose history goes far back in the United States.

Annie asks Mae to meet her in the bathroom, during which time the camera would not be recording them. They sit in neighboring stalls to talk. Annie compliments Mae and seems envious of her ascent. Annie says she can’t hang out with Mae that night because she needs to do work related to The Circle. No one has told Mae about Completion, and Annie seems to enjoy having information that Mae does not. Annie is surprised when Mae reveals that she’ll be broadcasting an important meeting the following day.

Mae arrives at Dr. Villalobos’s office for her scheduled appointment. The doctor introduces Mae to the Complete Health Data program, called CHAD for short. This has enabled campus doctors to track constantly updated health information about all Circlers. Dr. Villalobos notes that a doctor in Scotland who has been tracking Mae’s health data via her broadcast believes Mae has an elevated cancer risk due to her regular consumption of nitrates. This worries Mae, but the doctor calms her, telling her to avoid certain foods. Dr. Villalobos then tells Mae that her parents have been covering up most of their SeeChange cameras. This has made it difficult for The Circle’s medical staff to continue tracking their health. Mae agrees to go to their house to take care of the situation.

After work, Mae drives to her parents’ house. She is upset that they would do this after all she has done for them. During the drive, Mae compares her family history to Annie’s seemingly all-American lineage that descends from Mayflower passengers. Everything went well during Mae’s first transparent visit to her parents’ house, and she expects this time to also go well. However, while they make dinner, her parents’ behavior is altered by the camera. Mae is required to display certain products during meal preparation. Her parents say they will fix the cameras, though they don’t seem like they actually will. They express frustration with getting so many messages from viewers and feeling obligated to respond.

As Mae leaves, her mother hands her a letter from Mercer. Mae starts the drive back to The Circle but pulls over to read it. In the letter, Mercer explains that he can no longer see Mae, noting that they’ve “taken very different evolutionary paths” (369). He then hints that he’ll soon be moving off the grid. He conveys her parents’ frustration with the cameras and acknowledges that he helped cover them. Mae decides that if her parents are so upset, she’ll drive back to their house and discuss it with them.

She reenters the house and doesn’t see her parents in the common rooms. The only sign of them is a pot of boiling water. Her mind starts to catastrophize. She goes upstairs and turns quickly into their bedroom, where she sees her mother performing oral sex on her father. She contacts Bailey, hoping the footage can be deleted, but he quickly shoots down this possibility. He says that transparency will soon normalize such behavior, and viewers will not find such things interesting.

It is midnight when Mae arrives back at The Circle. At her desk, she reads messages from her parents, expressing their outrage. They beg Mae to stop. To regain her equilibrium, Mae starts answering CE queries. When customers continue to request that she join their networks, they grow offended when she does not immediately reply. She again feels the rip inside her. She wants to see Annie but can’t locate her. To calm herself, she logs into CircleSurveys and responds to several questions. When she pauses between survey questions, the system repeatedly vocalizes her name, which comforts her.

Mae goes to Francis’s dorm. Because it is after 10 o’clock, she can turn off her camera, which she does. He immediately apologizes for his previous actions. Mae tells him that she’s there because she doesn’t want to be alone. She enjoys the thrill of having power over him. He tells her that he found many of his foster family members by using facial recognition technology and matching them to their Circle accounts. He then tells her about his sexual fantasy involving a lonely housewife. They act this out and have quick sex. She feels content and stays the night in his bed.

The following day, Mae enters the important meeting and is greeted by an elite group of influential Circlers. Bailey describes the lack of citizen participation in American democracy and suggests that Circle profiles automatically register citizens to vote. There is excitement in the room, and Mae’s viewership skyrockets past 2 million.

Mae raises her hand and shyly suggests: “Why not require every voting-age citizen to have a Circle account?” (391). Stenton is on board with this idea. Annie, who is standing in a corner, voices concern about its feasibility. She is quickly and embarrassingly shot down by Bailey. There are now over 7 million viewers. Annie again offers a criticism of the idea and Stenton condescendingly counters her point. Both Stenton and Bailey support Mae’s idea and intend to see it into action. They will even freeze citizens’ Circle accounts until they have voted. Stenton figures this idea could put all democratic participation in one place, The Circle, which could perhaps even eliminate the need for Congress.