How we cite our quotes: (Book.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Another message appeared on her second screen, this one from Dan. Fantastic work, Mae! How you feeling? Mae was astonished. A team leader who checked in with you, and so kindly, on the first day? (1.6.145-46)
During her first days at the Circle, Mae Holland is thrilled to see how much everyone seems to care about her well-being. Right away, she feels so much more connected than she ever did at her old job.
Quote #2
Someone mentioned the usefulness of marijuana in alleviating glaucoma, and someone else mentioned it was helpful for those with MS, too, and then there was a frenetic exchange between three family members of MS patients, and Mae, feeling some darkness opening its wings within her, signed off. (1.13.4)
This passage signals the first of many episodes in which Mae Holland starts to experience a strange feeling. Despite being connected—through digital technologies—to millions of people worldwide, Mae sometimes feels as if she's looking down into a dark and terrible pit full of screaming souls. She doesn't feel connected in those moments. Instead, she feels distant and confused.
Quote #3
"It's not that I'm not social. I'm social enough. But the tools you guys create actually manufacture unnaturally extreme social needs. No one needs the level of contact you're purveying. It improves nothing. It's not nourishing. It's like snack food. You know how they engineer this food? They scientifically determine precisely how much salt and fat they need to include to keep you eating. You're not hungry, you don't need the food, it does nothing for you, but you keep eating those empty calories. This is what you're pushing. Same thing." (1.19.63)
According to Mercer Medeiros, the Circle isn't helping anyone by trying to make people more connected to one another. From his perspective, the Circle's technologies aren't capable of remedying feelings like isolation and loneliness—all they'll do is make people crave real connection even more.