#2 HT

"'Blessed be the fruit,' she says to me, the accepted greeting among us. 

'May the lord open,' I answer, the accepted response (19).'"

This phrase that the girls say to each other is a prayer called the "Hail Mary" ensuring the ability to produce children. In the Bible the full phrase is "Blessed be the fruit of thy womb, Jesus". In the novel, the women bless the womb of each other so each baby can be born healthy and stay alive. Since the only role of women in their society is to produce children, they bless each other's wombs as often as possible. Atwood shows the reader this by having the women greet each other in this specific way.

http://www.catholicplanet.com/catholic/hail.htm