No Mercy for Mercer: Circle Blog #5 (analysis of own topic)

Mercer represents every last true human quality left standing in the world of The Circle. David Eggers utilizes Mercer's almost eclectic qualities to showcase the embedded necessities of people to retain a sense of privacy and individuality.  It is important to note that Mercer used to be seen as the antagonist of Mae, always pulling against the trend towards technology.  However, he begins to represent the rejection of so much change towards the end of the story.  Driven to insanity, Mercer exemplifies the effects that reduced privacy can have on individuals through his running, rejection of logic, and ultimate suicide.

The fight or flight instinct of all living things helps save lives.  During the novel, Mercer accepts the instinctual quality of running away from a force too large to defeat himself.  As everyone becomes enthralled in the Circle, Mercer remains skeptical of so much globalization and interconnection.  To him, the only logical thing to do is to run away.  During the scene where Mae and her coworkers search for Mercer, they showcase the extreme excitement a predator may feel when it finds its prey through the exclamation: "There he is! Driveway!" (Eggers 460).

As Mercer continues to run by driving his truck as fast as he could away from his compromised position, he begins the next stage of degradation.  In this scene, Mercer can be seen throwing logic aside as he rejects Mae's pleas to stop driving and instead responds with a more intense fear of the unknown.  Even though he recognizes Mae's voice, her shear lack of individuality maker her non-human in Mercer's eyes, and he connects her solely to the circle.

Finally, Mercer's suicide represents one of the most pivotal and eye opening emotional destructions of the entire novel. When he drives off the bridge, he cements the idea that privacy no longer exists and that all human qualities that used to thrive off individuality and intimate moments is dead.  Mercer has been violated beyond repair and his brain cannot handle being hunted in a society when interconnection is valued more than human experiences.  The concept of being dead is more appealing than dealing with a world like this.

In the end, it is evident that Mercer truly does represent the average human in today's day and age.  Few people toady would be willing to give up true human interactions with others for solely online relationships with other.  On the other hand, there is a modern trend where people live vicariously through their social media profiles and forget to put their phones down instead of making real life memories.  It is important to recognize the importance of pure human interactions, and Egger's usage of Mercer losing his mind fully completes the idea that privacy is necessary to truly remain human.

Image Credits:

Image provided by Marcy Leigh