Mae the...Villain?

Mae is not a hero. Mae is not a victim. As the New York Times argues, and I contend to, "Mae, then , is not a victim but a dull villain." While reading the novel, I had a consistently optimistic and somewhat naive outlook that Mae would realize the direness of her circumstances, the impending evilness that will manifest from a completely transparent totalitarian regime. Somewhere towards the end of the novel, which is admittedly a little late and tragically hopeful, I had to let go of this fantasy. Mae was eager to fit in, obsessed with the lure of societal approval, and completely engulfed in quantification as opposed to actual interaction. She shifted from a normal life with normal family relationships, to complete indifference to her roots and established relationships prior to her employment at the Circle. She was able to track down Mercer and lead him to his eventual suicide, and have the audacity to note that it was almost like a game. Killing one of the most important people in her life was like a game. 

In my interpretation of the claim by the New York Times, the truth in the statement is derived from the idea that Mae is simply in no way shape or form a victim of the circle. She is a willing and submissive pawn in the totalitarian and completely transparent manifesto, and that takes away any claim to say she fell victim to it. While it may not appear this way until the novel comes to a chilling end, Mae is essentially the villain if anything at all to the novel. Her character is not anything compelling or contrasting in terms to the norm of the totalitarian regime. In reality, Mae's character stories just one experience of someone completely and totally submissive to the controlling environment that is being molded. If Mae is to be referred to as a dull villain, that namesake comes from the idea that she had the chance to make a change, and denied the opportunity by instead cultivating more support for the Circle.

In the last portion of the novel, the plot becomes a haunting display of the power of the Circle and the terrifying future in store. A twist occurs as we learn that Kalden has been Ty, the third Wise Men, all along. This adds such a powerful contradiction to the aspect of the novel that has been advising Mae to think of the affects of what she is doing. Kalden attempts one last time to help Mae see the detrimental affects of completing the Circle, and Mae shreds the last bit of hope for humanity to pieces without ever considering the troubles of this. She is so deep in the false reality of knowledge and approval that she divulges the Kalden scenario to her viewers and informs the world that he has tried to take down the powerful circle. Mae is the villain by her failure to uphold humanity. Her obsession with knowledge and complete rejection of any of the relations she has made in her life boils down to the last thought Mae leaves us with regarding Annie in a coma: " What was going on in that head of hers? It was exasperating, really, Mae thought, not knowing. It was an affront, a deprivation, to herself and to the world. She would bring this up with Stenton and Baily, with the Gang of 40, at the earliest opportunity. They needed to talk about Annie, the thoughts she was thinking. Why shouldn't they know them? the world deserved nothing less and would not wait" (497).