For me, this section of the novel detailed many strange moments. For example, Mae discovers a lot about her health plan. She is required to have biweekly checkups, and is allowed to have her parents put on her health insurance plan. Mae also goes to a circus event held at the Circle and again meets the mysterious character Kalden. For the rest of the section, Mae realizes she knows absolutely nothing about this grey haired character, and this causes anxiety.
The strangest part to me deals with Mae’s long interaction with Denise and Josiah. The underlying problem is that Denise and Josiah feel that Mae is not participating in a socially acceptable way for the company. Dan, Mae’s boss says, “We see this workplace as a community, and every person who works here is part of that community” (Eggers 179). Mae works hard and has great performance ratings, but the two HR representatives push Mae to participate more in Circle social events, Zing discussion etc. Building a community is an important component of the company’s identity, and after this discussion, Mae is determined to increase her Participation Rank in the Circle’s system.
Personally, I have several problems with this conversation. First, on page 182 Denise states that activities taking place at night and on the weekends are not mandatory. However, it seems as though leaders in the company have a problem with those who choose not to participate in optional events. Denise and Josiah pressure Mae into putting extreme amounts of time into the company and I do not like the way the presented their concerns: forcefully. Second, Denise and Josiah talk to Mae about being “absent” the past weekend. Mae shares with them that her father had a seizure, and that she was greatly concerned and spent the weekend with her parents. The HR representatives understood her absence, but question why she did not Zing about her experience. “Its curious that you didn’t share this with anyone else. Did you post anything anywhere about this episode? A zing, a comment anywhere?” (Eggers 184). This greatly angered me because I do not believe that everything about one’s personal life needs to be advertised. Mae was greatly concerned for her father’s health and I felt like she was being attacked for being focused solely on her family. Denise and Josiah continue as they question Mae and her involvement in watching WNBA basketball and kayaking. They wonder why she wouldn’t reach out to other people at the Circle and talk to people with common interests. I simply do not understand why some things can’t be kept private. Finally, on page 189 Denise accuses Mae of having low self-esteem because she doesn’t share EVERY activity of her life with other Circle members. Denise brings up the idea that perhaps Mae doesn’t feel like her ideas are important, and that is why she hesitates to participate as much as others in the Circle. I found this strange because to me not everything needs to be shared. There is no right to privacy in this company. This is concerning because privacy is important and I would not want people knowing my business all the time.
It is strange that this company is so technologically advanced that everything needs to be shared at all times. I suppose that this is an extreme version of our world today and frankly it scares me that in this novel, everything about you needs to be shared and known by everyone all the time. It is definitely all a little strange.
You Can't Win Unless You Learn How To Lose 