1. The Circle by Dave Eggers presents a situation where the protagonist is naïve in believing that the company is working for is right in its tenets and ideals. However, her dependence on social media and connectivity to the internet alarmingly relates to my social media addiction. Mae Holland quickly finds out that staying even for a moment without being connected to everyone can be catastrophic to one’s social life (Eggers 83-84). The needed to be constantly connected to the internet and updated about what everyone else is doing can relate to my life since I am regularly checking my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts checking status updates, upcoming events, pictures and snooping on what everyone else except me is up to. Furthermore, the interconnection of personal devices such as smartphones, iPad, Laptop and computers with the cloud is among the issues that emerge in the novel but reflects an accurate picture of my life.
2. The Circle presents some sinister similarities with George Orwell’s 1984, a narrative that is set in dystopian future where the people constantly being surveilled by the government. Though 1984 presents a future where information and data is gathered from the people through surveillance, manipulated and transmitted back to the people as a means of control (Orwell 43). Both The Circle and 1984 presents a similar concept of loss of privacy since people are monitored all the time whether they like it or not. In addition, both narratives illustrate that any attempt by any person to safeguard privacy or hide information from being accessed could result in death. Therefore, people are deprived of their free will to make decisions and choice regarding their lives since they are unwittingly controlled and manipulated to conform to the system.
3. The Circle presents a scenario where the big data companies have control of society. The novel illustrates that people are monitored in their work place, in the streets and in their most private corners . The concept of being controlled by technology is a real issue that is presented in the novel and is happening in the real world. In the recent past, it has become apparent that governments and corporations have the capability of gathering vast volumes of information through surveillance on unsuspecting people. Privacy among users of technology has been a major issue considering that companies such as Microsoft, Google and Apple among others have the capacity to monitor how people use their operating systems and devices as long as they are connected to the internet. Hence, the issue of privacy raised in the novel is not just a work of fiction but a reality that is unfolding in the world.
4. The news article, “Spies and internet giants are in the same business: surveillance. But we can stop them” by John Naughton explicates how the big data companies such as Google and Facebook use personal information for their marketing strategies. The news relates to novel since it cautions against allowing such monopolistic companies from taking control of people’s personal information (Naughton). The collection of personal data, and the encouragement of the population to sign up, and be in the know of what everyone is doing can be equated to the concepts of “privacy is theft” or “secrets are lies” perpetuated by The Circle (Eggers 309). The article and the novel present identical issues and concerns applicable to the real world situations.