The Circle
This one's a no-brainer, folks. In The Circle, the geometrical circle is a symbol of unity, closure, continuity, totality, infinity, and pretty much any other related term you care to imagine. Sinc...
The Three Wise Men
Although Ty Gospodinov, Eamon Bailey, and Tom Stenton are often referred to as the Three Wise Men (the three foreign men who followed a star and brought gifts to baby Jesus), the novel suggests tha...
Transparency
On the Circle's main campus in San Vincenzo, most of the buildings feature glass prominently. Some even have glass floors and ceilings in addition to their glass walls. Lucite and plexiglass are ot...
The Shark
Even Jaws wouldn't want to mess with this guy.The see-through shark that Tom Stenton brings back from the Mariana Trench is a symbol of Stenton himself—voracious, insatiable, and utterly predator...
The Octopus
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...
The Seahorse
If the transparent shark from the Mariana Trench is a symbol of Tom Stenton, and if the transparent octopus symbolizes Eamon Bailey, we don't need to look far to find the symbolic counterpart of th...
The "Tear in the Cloth"
Throughout The Circle, Mae Holland experiences a number of disturbing episodes that frighten her. They often (but not always) occur when she's online, and they typically happen when Mae is overstim...