The story is a parable—a simple narrative allegory that carries a moral lesson or warning. Atwood’s parable merges elements of poetry with science fiction. Parables are best known from the New Testament of the Bible. In the New Testament, Jesus uses stories to teach his disciples lessons about the proper way to live, about his philosophy, and about God and spirituality. Some of these biblical parables have inspired science fiction; famed author Octavia Butler based a series of novels on the Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Talents.

Atwood utilizes repetition. Echoing the intoning, chant-like quality of the Old Testament’s Mosaic books enumerating lineage, she starts each of the story’s ages with parallel grammatical constructions that change slightly: “In the first age, we created gods,” “In the second age we created money,” “In the third age, money became a god,” “In the fourth age, we created deserts” (Paragraphs 1, 3, 4, 5). The repetition gives this historical account the feel of a sacred text. The story also creates parallels between the different ages. Events echo earlier events, such as the creation of gods and money, or the use of natural elements before and after industrialization.