How we cite our quotes: (Book.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #7
And there was a wonderful thing that tended to happen, something that felt like poetic justice: every time someone started shouting about the supposed monopoly of the Circle, or the Circle's unfair monetization of the personal data of its users, or some other paranoid and demonstrably false claim, soon enough it was revealed that that person was a criminal or deviant of the highest order. […] And it made sense. Who but a fringe character would try to impede the unimpeachable improvement of the world? (1.33.6)
Ah, yes. Poetic justice. That's definitely the term we use when a corrupt corporation destroys anyone who threatens it or stands in the way of its continued expansion. Wait, what? That's not what that term means? Huh. Someone should probably send Mae Holland a "zing" to let her know.
Quote #8
The pressure on those who hadn't gone transparent went from polite to oppressive. The question, from pundits and constituents, was obvious and loud: If you aren't transparent, what are you hiding? Though some citizens and commentators objected on grounds of privacy, asserting that government, at virtually every level, had always needed to do some things in private for the sake of security and efficiency, the momentum crushed all such arguments and the progression continued. If you weren't operating in the light of day, what were you doing in the shadows? (1.38.5)
This mass momentum that crushes everything in its path should be setting off some major alarm bells as you read The Circle. Dave Eggers' novel shares more than a few concerns about the violence that can ensue when people are presumed guilty rather than innocent (contrary to their constitutional right).
Quote #9
"Now all humans will have the eyes of God. You know this passage? 'All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of God.' Something like that. You know your Bible?" Seeing the blank looks on the faces of Mae and Francis, he scoffed and took a long pull from his drink. "Now we're all God. Every one of us will soon be able to see, and cast judgment upon, every other. We'll see what He sees. We'll articulate His judgment. We'll channel His wrath and deliver His forgiveness. On a constant and global level." (2.13.18)
Although Mae Holland and Francis Garaventa can't stop laughing at the deluded ranting of the drunken former divinity student who preaches to them at a bar, the truth is that his ideas aren't all that different from Eamon Bailey's. In fact, Bailey has said almost all of the very same things, but because he has couched his ideas in more progressive and humanitarian (and less obviously religious) speech, his radicalism has gone largely unnoticed by Circlers like Francis and Mae.