Her True Colors

Everyone has some bad in them but I like to think that the majority of people have a lot of good in them which in turn cancels out the bad. While reading The Circle I am honestly not so sure of that anymore. It is understandable in my opinion why The New York Times referred to Mae as a dull villain and not a victim. Mae has been put in the position to play the victim, the ignorant girl who is captivated by all of the power that the Circle seems to hold. In reality Mae has a dark side that she is not afraid to show, she betrays her friends and family, ends up aiding in a way to the death of one of her love interests and is unapologetic for all of her actions. Mae is a villain, whether she knows it or not, just though her simple but knowing acts of betrayal.

The betrayal of friends is hard to see, especially when it is a close friend who has done so much for the other person. While Annie has her faults as welt was surprising to see Mae climb to the top so quick;y without caring who she stepped on in the process. Annie got Mae the job, became almost like a mentor to her, but in the end Mae still betrayed her. In the ending scene, watching her friend in a hospital, not showing concern but wondering when the technology will be available to read peoples thoughts. Mae shows no emotion in this scene, in my opinion showing signs of psychopathy, unable to emulate human emotion or show empathy.

Betraying ones family is a more concrete reason for considering Mae to be a dull villain, family is one of the most important things in a persons life. They are supposed to love you unconditionally and always be there for you. Understandably not all families are like the description above but Mae had a good family. They were originally supportive in their daughter and proud. However they began to see the dangers of the circle and the dangers of going transparent. Mae would not listen, refused to understand, and ultimately ended up losing her family for "the good of the Circle". Mae also lost one of her other love interests, Kalden, who turned out to be the creator of the Circle Ty (holy plot twist). She gives the ultimate betrayal in promising to aid him in the destruction of the circle because he understands the danger of it. He even predicts a totalitarian rise within the company. Mae ends up telling the other Circle member and forever silencing Kalden/Ty.

Mae is in fact a dull villain, it just takes the readers some time to come to the realization. At first we sympathize with Mae, pity her, even show empathy because we too get led astray when it comes to technology. However I would like to believe that the readers are capable of feeling human emotion and are able to see the lack of goodness that is in Mae. Betrayal of friends, family, and loved ones is something only a villain could do. She did not do it for the good of humanity, rather for the good of the company that she herself was beginning to take control of.