Julia Murray
Eggers is extremely forwarding in letting his opinions be known to the reader. He adds in his own personal bias (as some critics would call it) to play a sort of devils advocate to the monopoly that is the Circle. It is interested to me that Mercer committed suicide seeming as I always identified him as a sort of vocal character associated directly with Eggers’ opinions. Mae’s reaction to losing two of her closest relations from the pre-circle era is startling. The best comparison I personally could make is to that of a robot because of her lack of emotion. Her inability to put herself in someone else’s shoes (or in other words show empathy) is inhumane and unnatural.
The quote “the world deserves nothing less and would not wait” needs to be read in the point of view of Mae. Mae believes that the world should not only want everything that is occurring in relation to the Circle but that everyone is entitled to it. This is a direct comparison to the world today because most people in today’s society have excess and superficial items that are not an everyday need, and we as a society feel entitled to these things. Also with everything at the touch of our fingertips people have lost the ability to maintain patience.
lmurhetoric37 
I agree with your point about the quote “The world deserves nothing less and would not wait” and how it should be looked at from Mae’s point of view. Mae’s actions, although aggravating to the reader at times, are not ill-intentioned. She is simply influenced by the company she works for which accounts for her seemingly constant naivety. Her character, in my opinion, is generally summarized as a follower: someone who adopts the ideals of others around her but never forms or acts on her own opinions. Because of this, she is full fledged into whatever The Circle asks of her and becomes their foremost advocate, both externally to the public and within her own mind. This leads me to your other point about Mae being a sort of robot. She does whatever she is told without addressing or considering the consequences.
Addressing your point about Mercer’s suicide, I believe that although it was unexpected of him (because of his generally vocal character), he felt he had no other choice. He was always a strong advocate of the basic right to privacy. He predicted early on and warned Mae of the state of totalitarianism she was helping to create, but to no avail. After moving off the grid and eventually being found, I believe Mercer felt that there was no place he could go to escape the chaos that was spreading throughout the modern world.
LikeLike
I like how you mention that Mercer was a very strong voice for Eggers’ own ideas and opinions. I believe Mercer is very much a clear example that access and intelligence are not equivalent to understanding. Although Mae is up to date with technology and information due to the Circle’s facilities, she still acts, as you said, like a robot, because she is unable to relate to a diversity of human opinion and personality. I always tell my friends that understanding the world and understanding life are two very different things because understanding the world can simply be achieved with extensive knowledge, while understanding the dynamics of life requires experience and openness. Through the application of full transparency, the Circle is only able to make known all information, not necessarily replicate human experiences for every individual. The biggest difference between artificial intelligence and humans is that humans have the capabilities to execute logic and common sense. As the Circlers are further immersed into the utopian society of the company, they begin to stray from their humanity as responses and actions become uniform and automatic, not driven by emotional motivation or critical thinking. In reference to your comment on the elimination of patience, I find that demand increases with further technological invention. Just in the way that we are impatient when our iPhones load slower than usual, Mae has become so used to the proficiency at which new softwares are developed by the Circle that I think, were the story to continue, the frustration of not knowing Annie’s coma thoughts would drive her insane. The Circle sets up a world in which lack of knowledge becomes a pressing issue over the actual extent of knowledge. With everything that Mae has access too, she does not use the technology to explore the world, as Bailey claims its prime purpose is, but rather chooses to look up the statistics of who finds her awesome. With a surplus of information at the world’s fingertips, many may forget what really is important to know and focus on.
LikeLike