rental place is closed , so she borrows a kayak leaning on the outside of the fence and is arrested upon her return , having been caught on one of The Circle ’ s newest world improvements , SeeChange – crystal clear surveillance cameras installed wherever anyone wants to place them , undetectable to the naked eye and available to any Circle user who wants to tune in .
Here we have the break point , Mae falls so far down The Circle rabbit hole after this as the corporation insidiously manipulates her thinking . She becomes the second , more famous Circle employee to become Transparent , meaning that she now wears a lens around her neck at all times , allowing every Circle user access to life and the inner workings of The Circle . The only time she is not constantly watched are the three minutes her audio is turned off while using the bathroom and when she removes the lens while she sleeps . She is the Big Brother human propaganda for everything Circle .
By this point in the book , I had to take periodic breaks while reading . I found the novel rather unsettling as I could see it happening . Such things are already occurring around the world and we barely bat an eye . Already , several near-monopolies operate in the US that could easily infiltrate themselves in such a way – that are trying to do as such at this very moment . The technology that the author illustrates in the book is not that far-fetched and already in use , taking over how we interact – or fail to interact – with each other . A social media platform that prevents its users from acting with venom by holding them accountable for their actions by not allowing them to act distastefully while hiding behind their screens , is really not a bad idea . However , a descent into a world under constant surveillance and validation will ultimately lead to tyranny .
Truly , this is an enjoyable novel . Putting aside my feelings of unease toward the dystopian future Dave Eggers has created , the creep of acceptance that permeates the twenty-somethings in the novel - that “ privacy is theft ” and knowing everything about everyone by being in constant connection - makes for a fully believable way to brainwash the world . That one company has the reins to all our data , can track us every second of the day , controls what is being shared and shuts down anything that speaks against it is obviously a thing of nightmares , but could easily weed itself into a society . At the end of the day , what The Circle is wielding is fear and fear controls . Should such a thing occur , Eggers asks us : Would we be able to see through the fog ?
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Thomasville Scene April | May 2022 85