Essay Questions

How does Mercer die, and what is the significance of this plot point?

Mercer is Mae's best friend, and someone who prefers to be off the grid. So, when Mae goes fully transparent with SeeChange she doesn't see him anymore as he doesn't want his life aired to millions of people he doesn't know. Later, with the creation of Soul Search, Mae uses this application to find Mercer but the people who find him chase him down in a way that causes him to panic and when a drone flies directly in the path of his truck he's forced to swerve. This leads to him driving off of a bridge and plummeting to his death.

Why has Ty gone underground at a company where he created one of its key applications?

Ty has created a much used Circle application called TrueYou. But he is highly suspicious of how his technology is being used. He tells Mae that it's intent was not to be used in the ways The Circle is using it. Thus, Ty has chosen to keep a safe distance from The Circle employees for a reason. He knows that Bailey and Stenton are using technology in illegal ways in order to further their agenda and increase their profits. Something he wants to stop.

What's the irony in Bailey's call for transparency?

Bailey, from the outset, calls for everyone, especially politicians, to be transparent so that the public knows what they are doing and why they are doing it. He is demanding responsibility be taken and he is targeting those in government who affect policy. What's ironic here is that Bailey, while founding the company that created SeeChange which allows for small cameras to see every bit of a person's life, doesn't participate in the principle of transparency that he demands from others. It isn't until Mae has him set up with SeeChange in front of his loyal workers that it's revealed that he and Stenton have been hiding massive secrets that implicate them in scandal after scandal while they call for transparency.