Praise be

Praise be is the obligatory verbal response that Handmaids in the Republic of Gilead must utter whenever they receive news or a statement from another Handmaid. It functions as the second half of a call-and-response greeting: the first speaker says "Blessed be the fruit" and the listener must answer "May the Lord open"; after that, any affirmative reply to a statement of fact is expected to be "Praise be." The phrase is one of a small set of approved utterances that define the boundaries of permissible speech for Handmaids, turning every exchange into a ritual performance of orthodoxy.

Ritual Function and Social Control

The phrase appears most frequently during the twice-daily shopping walks, when Handmaids walk in pairs and are forbidden from any conversation that is not strictly orthodox. When Offred's shopping partner Ofglen reports that "the war is going well" and that "they've defeated more of the rebels," Offred answers "Praise be" each time, even though she has no way of verifying the information and suspects it may be propaganda. The repetition of the formula allows the women to exchange news—however dubious—without violating the rule against unauthorized talk. As Offred reflects, she is "ravenous for news, any kind of news; even if it's false news, it must mean something." The ritual phrase thus becomes a thin membrane through which the women can pass information while maintaining the appearance of piety.

Indoctrination at the Red Center

The Handmaids are drilled in these responses at the Rachel and Leah Re-education Center, known as the Red Center. Aunt Lydia and the other Aunts force the women to memorize the approved greetings and replies, along with Bible verses and slogans, as part of their re-education. The Aunts use the phrases to inculcate a habit of verbal submission: every time a Handmaid opens her mouth, she must first affirm the regime's ideology. The phrases are also used during meals, when the women recite blessings and responses before eating. Offred recalls that at the Center they were made to say "Praise be" after every announcement, and that the Aunts would punish any deviation from the prescribed wording.

Subversion Through Repetition

Despite its intended function as a tool of control, the mechanical repetition of "Praise be" creates a space for irony and resistance. Offred sometimes adds the phrase as an afterthought, as when she says "Yes," then adds "Praise be" a moment later, aware that the formula is a hollow shell. The very emptiness of the phrase allows it to be used as a cover for genuine communication: because the words carry no real meaning, the women can say them while their eyes and gestures convey something entirely different. When Offred and Ofglen first begin to trust each other, they continue to exchange the ritual greetings even as they whisper forbidden information, using the approved phrases as a protective screen.

Connection to the Regime's Language System

"Praise be" is part of a larger system of linguistic control in Gilead. The regime has created a closed vocabulary of approved phrases—"Blessed be the fruit," "May the Lord open," "Under His Eye," "Which I receive with joy"—that replace ordinary conversation. This language system serves several purposes: it prevents the women from discussing anything outside the regime's approved topics, it constantly reminds them of their subordinate status, and it makes any deviation from orthodoxy immediately detectable. The phrases are also used in public ceremonies like the Prayvaganza and the Salvaging, where the women chant responses in unison, reinforcing their role as a collective rather than individuals. Offred notes that the language of the regime is designed to be "impenetrable," a wall of words that keeps the women isolated from one another and from any alternative way of thinking.

The Phrase as a Marker of Identity

For the Handmaids, the ability to produce the correct response at the correct moment is a matter of survival. A woman who fails to say "Praise be" when expected, or who says it with the wrong tone, risks being reported as a subversive. The phrase thus becomes a marker of identity: a Handmaid is defined by her willingness to repeat the regime's words. Yet the very necessity of the phrase also reveals the regime's weakness—its need for constant verbal affirmation from those it oppresses. Offred understands that the words are a form of theater, a performance of belief that may or may not correspond to inner conviction. In this way, "Praise be" becomes a site of tension between the public self that the regime demands and the private self that the Handmaid struggles to preserve.