Authors often write novels based on a dystopian society in order to forewarn the reader about the dangers of a chaotic, oppressive society. Certain political and social elements create an anti-Utopian society of Gilead in The Handmaid's Tale. The attributes which characterize this entropic community are oppression, the caste system and rebellion. Margaret Atwood, the author, is attempting to predict the consequences of these elements if they were to be implemented in the modern American environment.

The first element which creates an anti-Utopian structure in Gilead is oppression. As a totalitarian military state, the republic is ruled by martial law. Young men in uniforms, known as the Guardians patrol every street corner and main gate in order to secure civil order. The powerful men of Gilead maintain control through militaristic oppression, hence the Guardians as their instruments of terror. Offred often encounters groups of soldiers while performing grocery...