Technology Myth In "The Circle" By Dave Eggers

The Circle: The Technology Myth

The novel begins on a glistening, sunlit day in June, Mae Holland cruises campus on her first-ever day at the Circle (Eggers, 1). The company is a creative and strongly favorite web organization, which has seized the globe by a twister in its six years of operation, and Mae is excited to have been offered the enticing chance of joining its vast group of workers. Her first days at the Company are full of good and bad experiences. Notably, Mea meets a brand-new fiancé wish-Francis Garaventa- at a ceremony on her first night in the company, even though she is not completely certain what to make of him. Francis has a lousy obsession with placing his foot in his mouth and abusing her in the action.

She realizes that she is an excellent Customer Experience agent, although she as well receives a few reprimands from her boss early on-reprimands for turning down repeated appeals to a colleague's ceremony and missing the ceremony all. Things unquestionably level up in Book II. By this time, Mae has been clothed in a video camera for around a month and a half and has grown into one of the most eminently visible persons working at the Circle. She is convinced that she is assisting in creating bliss, and in bringing about a more unusual, real, and straightforward kind of participatory democracy. However, to her discontent, troublesome men such as Mercer and Kalden aren’t so convinced. As such, they attempt to tell her that what she is indeed campaigning for is a form of totalitarianism, though filled with sarcasm for the both of them, Mae declines to hear and pay attention.

By the moment Book III is around, there is no one thing left to slack off the onset of the dawning of the dystopian atmosphere, the Mae has aided to establish. She has disclosed TV Gospodinov’s strategies and spoiled her chances of breaking up the Circle, and no person could- or would desire to mastermind the Circle’s collapse (Grade Saver, n.p). Aforesaid, this paper delves into the myth of technology in the Circle by Dave Eggers

The Myth

The book highlights how people use various technologies to connect. The U.S. has always valued its years of personal creativity, alluding to a rare and engrossed American spirit of innovation (Bueno, 166). Roosevelt called on it to get the nation out of the Depression. Notably, innovators have without a doubt shaped the country, particularly during the heyday of American art from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth century, a period it produced acclaimed and cherished individuals like Ford, Einstein, and Edison (Bueno, 166). The invention of social media depicted by Eggers affects the in-distinguishability between simulated life and real.

In the first section of the novel, Mae becomes progressively lesser linked with the actual, ordinary planet and attracted to the creative innovations and components that the firm offers her. As such, her entire personality and character slowly shift from being an honest and accommodating young lady to roughly the case of a cyborg, not able to make candid and virtuous decisions. When her ex-lover, Mercer, puts forward the rhetorical query “do you realize how incredibly boring you’ve become” (Eggers, 263), Mercer not only offers a precise presumption of her, however, this 'incredibly boring' aspect as well spreads to individuals that are immensely absorbed in present-day’s social media experience. Even though she obviously cannot more differences between simulated and real life, in essence, there exists a useful, lucid distinction between the pair.

In the nerve-racking, ruthless surrounding of the Company, Mae treasures her position and honor over private experience, privacy, and health. In an argument, Mercer brazenly informs her that she “sit[s] at a desk twelve hours a day and … [has] nothing to show for it except for some numbers that won’t exist or be remembered in a week” (Eggers, 262). He is indicating that Mae is depleting several hours with her attention affixed to the pragmatic, high-tech globe, whereas she can be interacting with individuals in actual life and delving into the environments in the real world rather than through the optics of prevalent SeeChange cameras. Though she holds a view that she is improving neighborhoods by lowering crime incidents through technological approaches, she is inimical, because online data is short-lived, instead of long-lasting and purposeful as is the case with real-world social endurance. Mae's preoccupation with her work horizons the point of letting go of mental and physical health, and sleep. For instance, one morning, Mae put up working, inkling the strange concentration conceivable for several hours after a hugely sleepless night (Eggers, 274). Aforesaid, this confirms that she is not just overly uninteresting, but that she as well undervalues sleep, reasoning that her real world is on a macro-computer monitor or through some automation.

As Mercer said at the beginning of the novel, the Company’s gadgets are the computer-social commensurate of snacks meal since “you’re not hungry, you don’t need the food, it does nothing for you, but we keep eating these empty calories” (Eggers, 134). The correlation attack the Company's aims of computerizing the entire modernized globe. Mae experiences the obligation to remain informed in the current global and better her networked glory, although, in the actual world that is more distinct, Mae has few genuine friendships (Ludwigs, n.p). Surprisingly, her connection with her parents appears to be receding when she persistently scorns them while taking an evening meal. Rather, she chooses to issue “smiles” to show authorization or “frowns” to show displeasure on social media. After all, the outcomes of her obsessions do not become lucid up till security officers capture her for getting away with a kayak in the final hours and she invaded a private land.

Whereas a majority of Americans are guilty of using social media often like Facebook, there is a similar anomaly in present-day's social media experience, particularly among teens. Mobile phones and computers have been with us for the past several years, still, it appears that roughly all Americans rely on social media for texting with allies, sharing things, and setting up group events. Notably, not all utilization of social media is adverse, though a majority of individuals have become too tied to it. We note, for example, that a few of our allies upload incidental images to Instagram each couple of moments, during activities, during feasts, and classes. (Siddiqui and Singh, 73). The number of hours spent on social media every week can be conceived; however, it is known that individuals can be attaining much, much more in the real world in the absence of continuous use of websites and applications. It does offer advantages in the current fast-measure world; however, the wastage of productive hours and privacy is usually not worth such advantages.

Some similarities certainly exist between the book and the present-day's world concerning the adverse effects of social media experiences. Apart from absurdity, individuals have become more uncaring of actual life and are not able to differentiate it from imitated life (Ludwigs, n.p). Society should value privacy over openness, and actual life offers more independence and bona fide relationships and experiences than imitated life does. Most importantly, the use of websites and applications in moderation is ideal, although the Company takes it to the limits.

Eggers accurately portrays the myth. In the current society, the youth are actively engaged in technologies such as social media use forgetting reality. For instance, the author depicts Mae as a young lady who is too much into the Circle's tools and technologies and as a result, forgets to establish an authentic relationship with her parents, instead, she favors using 'smiles' ” to show confirmation or “frowns” to show displeasure on social media.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the books offer great insight into the myth of technology in the United States. The U.S. is a nation that personal creativity since it believes in alluding to a rare and engrossed American spirit of innovation. The Circle highlights the adverse impacts of social media use in society. Social media preoccupies work horizons to the point of letting go of mental and physical health, and sleep. As such, people should be careful about how they use social media.

Works Cited

1. Bueno, Carmen. Transhumanism in Dave Eggers' The Circle: Utopia vs. Dystopia, Dream vs. Nightmare. 11 July 2018. 21 April 2019.
2. Eggers, Dave. The Circle. Waterville: Large Print Press, 2015.
3. Grade Saver. The Circle Summary. 2019. 21 April 2019.
4. Ludwigs, Marina. 'The Posthuman Turn in Dave Eggers's The Circle.' The Journal of Generative Anthropology (2015): XXI(1); n.p.
5. Siddiqui, Shabnoor, and Tajinder Singh. 'Social Media its Impact with Positive and Negative Aspects.' International Journal of Computer Applications Technology and Research (2016): 5(2); 71-75.