Dave Eggers View Of The Future Of Society

Social Control Dave Eggers, was born in the 1970s. His father was a lawyer and his mother was a school teacher. He grew up in the suburbs of Chicago where he had a rough childhood. His dad drank heavily and was always busy with work so he never had any time for Eggers. At the age of twenty-one, Eggers he took full responsibility of his 8 year old brother because both his parents had passed away due to cancer. Over the years Eggers has become a very successful author with having written many novels, film scripts and short stories. In 2013, Dave Eggers wrote a novel called The Circle, which is a type of literature known as dystopian literature, which means to have a negative view of the future of society. Works like this are most commonly
found around the time of World War II. We Like You So Much And Want To Know You Better is an excerpt from Dave Eggers novel The Circle. This story is an amazing example of dystopian literature, because it shines a light on what is wrong with society today and its undying need to know everything at all times through social media. There are also a lot of different types of dystopian controls like corporate, technological, bureaucratic, and religious. Throughout this work you will see examples of three of these. Throughout this entire story, it completely feels like all the employees are working under the eyes of a dictatorship.
It seems as if the employees don’t have much freedom at all because the bosses make the employees feel like they have to have a computer or a camera with them at all times to document every moment of their day weather it is bad or good. The company is more concerned about scores and ratings then the well being of there employees. You come to the understanding that Mae, might just happen to be working at a social media company and that her job is to post thing up, but why do the employees have to document every moment of the day, why do they have to document their personal lives. The employee should have the right to decide weather or not to post certain things, not be guilted into it by their bosses. You should leave your personal life outside of work. As long as Mae gets her work done that’s all that should matter to her bosses, not what she shares and doesn’t share on social
media. Dystopian literature or anti utopian literature, is a work of writing that uses a lot of utopian beliefs like people coexisting in perfect harmony but also challenges those same utopian beliefs. “Dystopias are solely fictional, presenting grim, oppressive societies—with the moralistic goal of preventing the horrors they illustrate.”(sisk) We Like You So Much And Want To Know You Better is a new age dystopian writing and has a sort of hidden hatred for the way our society is. During the first reading it was hard to notice this hatred or sarcasm until the end, but the second read one can almost tell that Eggers is mocking the way our society is. Other popular dystopian literature or anti utopian literature is books like The Hunger Games and Fahrenheit 451.
Early on in the writing Mae is showing the readers how insecure she is. Doubting her abilities to land a job in a company like the circle. Mae thought her friend Annie pulled some strings to get her there. That was just her insecurities speaking after walking down a path that had tiles with inspirational phrases or words. This is the beginning to Maes metamorphosis. The word dystopia in Greek actually means “bad place”, this is exactly what you see in We Like You So Much And Want To Know You Better, Mae the main character has just taken a new job at “The Circle”, which is a business much like Google or Facebook in our society today. At “The Circle” Mae is given a new tablet, and a new cell phone which seems very nice of the company. After getting settled in, and being very good at her job Mae gets called into her team leaders office as she entered the office:
Dan’s earnest eyes probed into hers. ”Mae have you had a good experience so far here at the circle?” “Absolutely,” she said. His face brightened. “Good. Good. That’s very good news. I asked you to come in just to, well, to square that with your social behavior here and the message it’s sending. And I think I might have failed to communicate everything about this job properly. So I blame myself if I haven’t done that well enough.” (9) If one were to take the Greek translation of dystopia ”bad place” it is easy to realize that this is a bad place even though at first it seemed very rewarding with the new cell phone and tablet almost like a bribe of sorts. Even though this work is fiction, this really shows what our society is evolving into. A place where being good at your job isn’t enough. And this couldn’t be truer for websites like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. In today’s society most people post everything on these websites from when using the bathroom to going on a road trip. What does this mean for those of who don’t feel they have to appeal to social media to be good jobs or post everything on the internet? The answer to this question is yes, it will have a negative effect on those of us that choose not to abide by this new found obsession. All throughout We Like You So Much And Want To Know You Better, there are theological references which is not coincidental. The mention of the circles main building looking like a cathedral in the beginning of the story, to prayer, a coworker looking like a cherub and a guy name Josiah. Even the exact times mentioned in the story have an underlying meaning related to the bible. The times are 8:46 and 5:42 looking up those verses in the bible you find something interesting John 8:46 says “Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?” (English Standard Version, John 8.46) this was a shock to see because Mae was just practically being interrogated by Denise and Josiah, where Denise is questioning Mae about how sick her father really is, or if he is at all. Matthew 5:42 says “Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.”(Matthew 5.42) This was also vary interesting to learn because Mae is also complying with Denise and Josiah and giving them all the answers they were asking from her. This is a perfect example of the religious control mentioned above having an effect on Mae. Which brings up the next point during the meeting they ask why she doesn’t Mae participate in group activities with the job:
Denise’s smile was pained. “But then there’s your absence at most of the weekend and evening events, all of which are of course totally optional, and your corresponding PartiRank, which is surprisingly low for a newbie. Let’s start with this past weekend. We know you left campus at 5:42 p.m. on Friday, and you got back here 8:46 a.m. on Monday.” Even though all these activities are optional the circle makes it seem like you have to participate. And was even held against her in the meeting with Denise and Josiah. Though she explained to Denise a Josiah that she couldn’t make the activities because of her father being sick, they still found a way to hold it against her and tell her they have groups online were people connect and talk about that stuff almost like an online support group. They asked her why she didn’t make a note of her father’s episode anywhere, not even a zing. They basically guilted Mae into joining MS club by making her feel like she had done something wrong by not previously joining a club although it is all optional. Then when Mae said something about kayaking, Josiah questioned her on why she doesn’t post pictures of herself kayaking or of the scenery. They wondered why she never shared a post about kayaking such as a smile, or a zing. The last part of We Like You So Much And Want To Know You Better is a definite eye opener to the readers because all throughout the story the circle has seemed like a relatively nice place to work and then:
“Folks, we’re at the dawn of the Second Enlightenment.
I’m talking about an era where we don’t allow the majority of human thought and action and achievement and learning to escape as if from a leaky bucket. We did that once before. It was called the Middle Ages, the Dark Ages. If not for the monks, everything the world had ever learned would have been lost. Well, we live in a similar time, when we’re losing the vast majority of what we do and see and learn. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Not with these cameras, and not with the mission of the Circle.” He turned again toward the screen and read it, inviting the audience to commit it to memory: “All that happens must be known.” Mae leaned toward Annie. “Incredible.” “It is, right?” Annie said. Mae rested her head on Annie’s shoulder. “All that happens will be known,”
(21)
This is an amazing example from the story that shows the type of dystopian characteristics. Corporate control to the highest level, could you imagine if this was true and that our every move is recorded an posted to the internet? You would be scared to go out of your house. And this is exactly what dystopian literature does to its readers makes them think, could this be possible and absolutely everyone I know is glued to their phones and always on some version of social media. After reading We Like You So Much And Want To Know You Better It is easy to see that this work is an excellent work of dystopian literature. From the control the circle holds it fits into three categories, corporate control; which would be how Denise Josiah want Mae to post everything online. Religious control; you see religious references all throughout the story. And the biggest one technological control; which would be the Seechange mentioned at the end of the story.