Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
It's tough being an octopus. You do your best to reach out and connect with the other creatures who share your world, and what happens? A see-through shark rips you to pieces and sends you on a one-way journey through its digestive tract.
Okay, maybe not all octopi can relate to this, but The Circle's Eamon Bailey can certainly see eye to eye with his unfortunate aquatic counterpart. After all, the transparent octopus that Tom Stenton brings back from the Mariana Trench is a symbol of Bailey himself, along with all of the misguided idealism that Bailey represents.
Bailey's whole deal is that he wants to connect with other people. As Ty Gospodinov puts it, "Bailey believes that life will be better, will be perfect, when everyone has unfettered access to everyone and everything they know. He genuinely believes that the answers to every life question can be found among other people. He truly believes that openness, that complete and uninterrupted access among all humans will help the world" (2.27.55).
The Circle's transparent octopus doesn't share these exact same beliefs—it's an octopus, after all—but it does represent them symbolically. Take a look at what happens when its keepers put it in an aquarium that's already inhabited by other creatures:
The octopus flowered and grew, and flew from one side of the tank to the other, barely touching the seahorses or any other living thing, only looking at them, only wanting to know them, and as he touched and measured everything within the tank, Mae saw movement again on the red ladder. (2.25.37)
Sound like anyone we know?
As we're sure you've already gathered, the octopus's violent death is just as symbolic as the octopus itself. When the Tom Stenton shark devours the Eamon Bailey octopus, The Circle gives us a clear indication that Stenton's vision for the Circle is the one that will be driving the company from now on.