Eamon Bailey

Outer characterization

Eamon Bailey is one of the “three wise men” who run The Circle, alongside Ty Gospodinov and Tom Stenton in Dave Eggers’ novel The Circle. Bailey is the public face of the company and lives in a modest home with his wife and his children. He grew up in Omaha and came from “an exceedingly normal family of six” (p. 24).

A portrait of him shows him to be “grey-haired, ruddy-faced, twinkly-eyed, happy and earnest” (p. 24). The description continues: “When he smiled, which was near-constantly, his mouth smiled, his eyes smiled, his shoulders even seemed to smile. He was wry. He was funny. He had a way of speaking that was both lyrical and grounded.” (p. 24)

The first time Mae sees him in person, she notes that “he was a tall man of about fort...