When you think of a cult, what is the first thing you think of? KKK, Manson Family, or Heaven’s Gate? Would you consider the Internet to be a cult? “A system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object” is the definition according to the dictionary. Throughout history, there have been many real-life and fictional interpretations of what a cult really is. In Dave Eggers’ novel ‘The Circle’, he portrays a highly innovative technology company that portrays a few aspects of what someone might call a ‘cult’. Upon reading the book, there are a few instances that reveal a bit of a religious undertone within the story. For instance, the first sentence alone is an allusion to religion, “My God, Mae thought. It’s heaven”. We also encounter a drunk seminarian, and Bailey mentions he comes from a church background. Throughout the book, we continue to see similarities in The Circle’s morals to that of a religion or a cult.
The Circle is constantly active in social gatherings and presentations like a religion might have with a church (Sunday services, schools, gatherings for Easter). The Circle also interferes with Mae’s personal life and her morals quite a bit (ban on certain drinks or food with some religions). An aspect that any religion or cult might have on somebody. For example, after the kayaking incident, when they claim to have footage of Mae stealing a kayak she is condemned for her actions when in reality is a completely normal activity. However, the best example of the Circle’s cult-like behavior is the actual choosing of Mae Holland, who is depicted as a vulnerable individual. A cult would clearly be interested in a person like this transforming into the ideal being to transform. And there are many examples of her transformation. One clear one is her relationship with her old college roommate, Annie Allerton, who even got her the job in the first place. At the beginning of the novel, we read of Mae and Annie’s close bond, “they’d roomed together for three semesters in college, in an ugly building made habitable through their extraordinary bond, something like friends, something like sisters or cousins who wished they were siblings and would have reason never to be apart”. However, at the very end of the book, when Annie is unconscious, Mae is struck with envy because she cannot know what Annie is thinking at that moment. “Mae felt a twinge of envy. She wondered what Annie was thinking”. A clear transformation in morals has taken place. To a certain degree. ‘The Circle’ can be seen as Mae’s battle of her soul. She clearly does not have true morals, to begin with. This is evident in the way she readily hands over her free will for acknowledgment and acceptance into The Circle. We see this clearly by the end of the book in which Mae reports Kalden after he warns her about The Circle’s true intentions. A person she even built an intimate relationship with, was betrayed just because of how much The Circle’s intentions were now ingrained in her. A real-world example of a cult similar would be ‘The Family International’, which has radical and extremist views on Christianity, yet remain respectful to legal and civil authorities, while some have said the cult is ruining lives, there continues to be a following.
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These aspects all clearly point to the Circle being a cult, and while it very well might be, I don’t think that is what Eggars intended. I believe Eggars intended to present a theme of how this constant use of technology shapes our ideals and morals. And while that might be true to an extent a lot has occurred with technology since 2013, Perhaps Eggars was trying to say we are all a part of a cult ourselves, the Internet. While the Internet might not be a religion that others might think is sinister, or there is one leader who is mysterious, it is purely for the sake of the theme of the book. And with the rising popularity of websites like YouTube and Instagram more and more individuals are getting trapped, and with the rise in new websites, also comes new technology, like the iPhone, which lets us easier access these features. While Eggars might be using this cult-like group to access the problem with modern technology, I would disagree. With the Internet, we can get access to information right at our fingertips and communicate with somebody anytime we desire. It is now easy to contact family internationally or track a child who may be lost, or contact an old friend. Many love to post about either important or unimportant stages in their lives that don’t really affect others in the end, yet it gives them happy just to see who liked it or commented on it. It’s not just personal aspects of technology that are positive, there is now a rise in carriers due to the Internet, and people can now have eBay and Amazon as a source of income instead of a traditional job. While Eggers' goal might be to use satire and hyperbole to draw attention to the serious problems that social networking is creating, this is not the reality of the situation as we can clearly see how the internet and social networking have created new relationships and is a good outlet for people to share their thoughts.
So, while The Circle might not be outright labeled a cult it is clear there are certain aspects of it that can possibly help validate the idea, and while Eggers might be using his novel as an outlet to share his thoughts on the negativity of the rise in technology, many, including myself, would disagree otherwise.
Reference
- Eggers, Dave. The Circle. New York. Random House LLC, 2013. Print.
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