Dystopian Literature
Ever heard of something called a "Ustopia"? It's a neologism Canadian author and mega celebrity Margaret Atwood came up with by joining the words "utopia" and "dystopia" into one compact bundle. By combining the two words, Atwood draws attention to the fact that in dystopian narratives (as in real life), the "imagined perfect society" sometimes turns out to be the total opposite—i.e., an oppressive, tyrannical state (source).
Since Shmoop isn't going to chuck out the solid tradition of simply using the term "dystopia" to describe the kind of society that Atwood has in mind, we're going to categorize The Circle as a work of dystopian fiction for now. All the same, it's helpful to keep in mind that the novel's protagonist, Mae Holland, doesn't actually believe that the world she inhabits is fast on its way to becoming an oppressive totalitarian nightmare.
In Mae's view, the Circle and everything it stands for is going to create a perfect world—a utopia in its purest sense—not a dystopian world of surveillance and mental (not to mention sometimes literal) imprisonment. Because Mae has bought in to the Circle's ideologies so completely, it doesn't even strike her as odd or self-contradictory that the supposedly utopian world she's helping to create is an ultra-Orwellian state where every family member, loved one, friend, colleague, business connection, or total stranger has absolute power to monitor and judge every aspect of every other person's life.
Maybe if Mae had read George Orwell's 1984 at some point during her time at Carleton U, she might have been able to tell the difference between a utopian and dystopian society. Unfortunately for the world of The Circle, millions of people worldwide seem to be confused by the distinction, too.
Which raises another question: is there really any such thing as a utopia? Or are all utopias on some level dystopian?