The circle is an influential company created by three wise men. It sums up all of one’s interactions such as social media, personal communication and other business including medical information into an online identity called TruYou. The Circle contributes to society by allowing transparency and accountability especially in government and businesses. It adds more and more to its network by monitoring biological functions through omnipresent cameras. In the beginning, Eggar makes his case that The Circle is heaven through Mae’s words from the onset. The circle contains very desirable amenities such as top notch technology, gyms, dorm like housing, parties and recreational activities. As the novel goes on Eggars makes his case that the Circle is not heaven after all. Mae begins to lose her privacy due to the company’s full transparency policy. She gains access to more screens of information to an extent of her private spaces being intruded. At first the circle looks glamorous and like the future but soon turns out to be a blood sucking tyrannical system-not heaven.
Having a healthy and happy work life, setting strong and balanced boundaries is essential. Boundaries regulate the flow input of information between the worker and the outside world (Kathy). An overly diffused boundary makes it impossible for one to discern where your values and that of others end and begin whereas rigid values block appropriate connection with others. In The Circle, Annie Mae’s best friend agrees to test for Past perfect which tracks personal family history and activities. Allowing violation of her personal space like this eventually causes her to fall into a catatonic state. Mae gets caught up in her job and the lack of boundaries begins to bother her. (Eggers 56) “It occurred to her, in a moment of sudden clarity, that what had always caused her anxiety, or stress, or worry, was not any one force, nothing independent and external- it wasn't danger to herself or the constant calamity of other people and their problems.”