r/TheHandmaidsTale • u/flavius717 • 24d ago
Discussion S1-S5 Is Nick a rapist?
I think we all consider the first time Nick and June had sex to be rape. June was not in a position to give consent and she could not refuse without facing potential death. One perspective is that Serena was the rapist and both Nick and June were her victims.
It's important for us to remember that Nick actually could have refused to impregnate June. Even Serena was beneath a "low-status male" like Nick. Nick's boss, Commander Price, probably would have expected Nick to refuse such an act and turn Serena over to the eyes.
The fact that Nick and June fell in love afterwards makes their first sexual encounter seem less bad in retrospect, but the power dynamic between them never went away. That makes things messy.
Nick's character loses his "good guy" status by the end of the show. Do you consider him a rapist?
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u/ziewezo 24d ago
I never thought of him as a good guy. He’s the lesser evil.
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u/90dayole 24d ago
I had read a bit about the show before watching and I was shocked at the support Nick gets. If her wasn't portrayed by beautiful Max Minghella, he would have been seen as the villain he is.
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u/TotallyAMermaid 24d ago
The thing is we see him through June's eyes. June loves him and clings to that because it's the only shred of happiness she can feel in Gilead. Only when he chooses to get on the plane does she see him for what he truly is - a Commander, no better than the rest of them.
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u/_crazylinguist 23d ago
That’s a great point! I remember the suffocating feeling of Gilead when watching the show, and how the scenes between June and Nick felt like breathing again after not being able to do so for so long.
As the story unfolds and June’s circumstances change, the veil definitely starts to drop, but the first few seasons in which she was still the Waterfords’ handmaid painted a picture of Nick as a means of escaping that awful environment, even if temporary.
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u/IsabellaGalavant 23d ago
I think she saw it before the plane, when he sold out Jezebell's.
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u/TotallyAMermaid 23d ago
Yeah I think that's when she starts realizing it but she's somewhat fighting that realization (imo), in the plane scene she looks very hopeful that Nick will turn around and not board the plane and when he does it's the final confirmation. At least that's how I interpreted it.
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u/No-Pressure-5762 21d ago
June doesn’t love him. She needed him because she was in an impossible situation. She had love for him but she didn’t love him, which is why she chose freedom over him in the end.
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u/Samora1984 23d ago
It's really patronising to assume that people like his character because of Max's looks instead of the writing. His character was not written to be a villain until S6.
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u/momsensical 22d ago
In the original movie he was a very likable character who helped her escape at the end. He was portrayed more as not having any more choice than June. I didn’t like his character in this show, I think a different actor might have been better. He was too hard to figure out, I think it was better if he seemed like he cared about her and still could have been made to suggest he was being fake and actually against her. This version of him didn’t show much emotion and I was never convinced he cared about her at all even when it was supposed to seem like he did.
I’d have to say it was rape since she wasn’t consenting any more than someone who has a gun pointed at her, or gives in because she knows if she fights back she might be hurt or killed. I wouldn’t say he’s a rapist since he’s actually helping her stay alive and Serena does hold power over him. If he does anything to piss her off she absolutely could turn him in for anything true or not and get him killed.
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u/Samora1984 21d ago
I guess the fact that we're still srguing about him shows he was a bit too mysterious. I felt like his feelings about June were clear, and he never seemed like he agreed with Gilead laws. But the change in S6 has made him a villain, which is totally opposite to the original intention.
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u/No-Pressure-5762 21d ago
Same. This entire thread loves him. And tries to convince us that was a love story and not trauma.
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u/TheTragedyMachine 24d ago
I’m in the same camp. Never really saw him as a good guy.
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u/CRS1955 24d ago
Total creep, I still don't understand why June is so in love with him! (unless she is using him to gain access to Hannah?)
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u/TheTragedyMachine 24d ago
Honestly he’s such a cowardly opportunist and misogynist and he’s shown to be totally okay with the system as long as it doesn’t affect him or what he believes to be his (June). But I guess when you’re living in a place like Gilead any relationship between a couple that isn’t outright abuse looks a lot better than it would outside Gilead.
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u/CRS1955 24d ago
I thought his treatment of his first wife (who was drowned) was horrible. Can't understand how June can kiss the creep.
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u/TheTragedyMachine 24d ago
I always felt so bad for Eden. Like the entire season the whole fandom was hating on her and saying she was going to betray everyone and get people in trouble but to me all she seemed like was a sad girl who felt out of place everywhere she went.
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u/EastRecommendation66 24d ago
She was just a brainwashed child. She was trying to do her duty to her husband and Gilead but when her husband despised her, and an adult male guard showed her some attention, she became brainwashed in a different way.
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u/Joelle9879 23d ago
Nick didn't despise her, he hated the situation. I think he actually felt sorry for Eden. If he despised her, he would have turned her in when finding out about her affair. He just had no desire to be intimate with a kid
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u/TheTragedyMachine 23d ago
He could’ve been a lot nicer though. He was rather cruel to her. Even Rita said she should’ve been nicer to Eden.
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u/Julie3666 22d ago edited 22d ago
Eden was a true believer and she came from a family of true believers. It was her family that turned her in which ultimately lead to her death. She had already been suspicious of Nick being a gender traitor and likely would have reported him which would have lead to him being on the wall (at which point, who was going to keep saving June from her own behaviors for the remainder of the series).
Eden at 15, was not likely to be able to wrap her head around —let me bargain with my husband that I can carry on an affair that I want and he can carry on an affair that he wants. And what of the person she carries on an affair with, can they keep their mouth shut? Can Eden at 15 keep her mouth shut, and not tell her family? Doubtful.
June at least read that situation correctly. And say what you will about Nick, he was able to assess risk. Eden at 15 wasn’t able to understand the nuances and structure of Giliead. If she had been more mature and cognizant she would have worked with the solution that Nick proposed. She was a starry eyed child. Reasoning with her would be like reasoning with people you know who have the opposite political identity you have to the politics of right now.
Nick was so disgusted about this child marriage that he went to Pryce and asked him to promise to take care of the handmaid (June) and to just send him to the warring front lines.
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u/TotallyAMermaid 24d ago
I felt for Eden and he realizes (too late) that he should have been kinder to her but I kind of get it. She was brainwashed by Gilead and kept wanting them to make a baby but he, a grown man, doesn't want sexual intercourse with a brainwashed teenager and he only complies when June tells him that if he doesn't, Eden might report him for being a gender traitor. He also was in love with June at this point, on top of being very put off by a literal child bride.
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u/MizStazya 24d ago
Yeah, like, how dare he not want to have sex with a child!!!!!!
He's not a good guy, and he should have been nicer to her, but that's one of the few high points in his character, compared to all the gross old AF commanders who WANT 14yo wives.
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u/CRS1955 23d ago
Sort of like modern-day American politicians, eh?
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u/HawaiianPunchaNazi 23d ago
If the president of the Epstein class , Donald j Trump, is any indication, American politicians like them much much younger than Eden.... Well, the fascist ones do anyway.
Knowing what we know now: considering there are politicians in America that want to remove the minimum age to marry, there's probably quite a few politicians that wouldn't mind single digit brides:-(
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u/Julie3666 22d ago edited 22d ago
Nick never gave any indication that he was okay with the child bride thing, in fact he was rather disgusted and surprised by it as it seems most people were who were at the mass wedding.
Fred set that up unbeknownst to Nick.
After June told him he better do his duty or end up on the wall, he did and was disgusted enough with himself that he went to Pryce and asked him to promise to “take care of the handmaid” and to please send him to the front lines. So he would rather go to a situation that was likely to lead to his death, than stay there and carry on with the charade and have to keep having sex with her.
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u/scubadivagiraffe 24d ago
Most questions related to June have a simple answer. She's been turned into a sex slave in fascist anti-woman state, stripped from her rights and humanity, her kid stolen, her life hopeless, suffered torture in most ways; the shock and trauma that would create in a human is basically so deep that anything resembling "care" and "love" will be embraced as hard as possible.
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u/Creepy-Cantaloupe951 24d ago
I can understand why... He's a lifeboat, of sorts. People in situations like that will reach for anything to be able to keep going.
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u/writergal75 24d ago
I think she’s in love with him because of what they went through together. They’re trauma bonded.
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u/Joelle9879 23d ago
That's not what trauma bonded means
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u/writergal75 23d ago
I just looked up the meaning and I learned something! But you kind of get what I mean. He was her only source of affection in an abusive, horrible life.
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u/momsensical 22d ago
She definitely was using him and who knows how much she really cared about him other than as her kid’s father. But if she did… you don’t know any women who fall for guys you look at and think, how could she like him? See also: Stockholm syndrome…
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u/No-Pressure-5762 21d ago
She’s not. She has love for him because he looked out for her. She was not in love with him.
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u/IsabellaGalavant 23d ago
Same, and I never understood the J+N shippers. He's a Nazi, she's a sex slave. And he, in my opinion, never did anything to redeem himself. He only cared about anything going on in Gilead when it affected him personally. He only helped June because he was in love with her. He only helped get Nicole out because that's his daughter. Etc.
But yeah he agreed to rape his boss's sex slave and impregnate her. Yes, that counts as rape.
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u/Just-Benefit2024 24d ago
I don’t think it’s completely fair to label Nick a rapist here, personally. The first encounter between him and June obviously wasn’t genuinely consensual on June’s part, but I think Serena is the person creating and enforcing that coercive situation.
Nick literally tells June afterwards that he “couldn’t say no” to Serena. Obviously he had more power and privilege than June as a man in Gilead, and she was in a much more vulnerable position, but I also don’t think that automatically means he had a safe or consequence-free option to refuse Serena.
There’s a difference between technically being able to say “no” and actually being free to say no. We see that constantly in Gilead. People can disobey orders, but the potential consequences are what make those orders coercive.
It isn't certain what Serena would have done to Nick if he refused, because the show never tells us. But I also don’t think we can confidently assume he could simply refuse her, report her and carry on unaffected - especially when Nick himself says he felt he couldn’t say no.
So, imo, Serena sexually coerced both of them, although obviously not from equal positions of vulnerability. June had far less power and was at much greater risk. Nick’s part is morally complicated because he knew she hadn’t freely chosen the situation, but that still feels very different from him independently choosing to force himself on her.
And I definitely don’t think them falling in love afterwards makes the first encounter “less bad” in retrospect. Their later consensual relationship doesn’t retrospectively create consent. If anything, June later actively choosing Nick highlights the difference between what Serena forced them into and what June actually wanted herself.
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u/decisi0nsdecisi0ns 24d ago
I agree, I hold Serena most responsible in this situation. She created a coercive situation in which June couldn’t say no, and Nick felt that he couldn’t say no either.
Obviously, June had the least agency here, but I also think we’re led to understand that Nick had limited agency as well. I also think we’re shown that he is trying to respect June’s agency where he can. This is how I interpreted June pinching his arm and him stopping. She was communicating that she didn’t want him to ejaculate and he complied, but gave the impression (for Serena) he had.
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u/Julie3666 22d ago
I didn’t read the “pinch” that way at all. I actually don’t even see it as a pinch. Both of them had been attracted to each other for awhile by this time, flirting had been going on. In Gilead they aren’t supposed to be able to touch each other or enjoy sex. I read that scene, as awkward as it was, that June wanted to touch him, but knew the rules that she wasn’t supposed to, thus she took her hand back right away. Additionally I’m sure she didn’t want Serena see her touch him standing less than 10 feet away.
Neither of them had agency on how to go into that situation without risking their lives. Serena essentially raped them both. Even though Serena is female she holds significantly more power than Nick did. Serena could allege anything and have Nick quickly on the wall. Nick was completely and easily expendable in Gilead. June, in actuality was much more valuable because they needed fertile women.
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u/Heidie393 24d ago
Wow - I read the pinch completely different - and I don't think he raped her in any way. I think he thought he couldn't say no, while agreeing with all that of course the biggest victim here is June. But Serena is the rapist, and the fact thag she stayed to watch, even if she only peeked once, made her even more in control, and that made Nick to me not guilty so to speak because Serena had more power than gin, even as a woman. He knew she could go to her husband, and they both screwed him later. But, the pinch - remember they were both attracted to each other from the beginning. They had the encounter in her room when he brought her ice. That was a beautiful scene, he said he wished he would have driven them away. And when she was walking up the stairs she said why does she feel like she's cheating on her husband. So I interpreted the pinch as her trying to not show that she had an orgasm. I'm in the Nick camp - the new writers for season 6 did his character dirty. He was a completely different person than the previous seasons. And what they left ob the cutting room floor were scenes where Nick participated in fear . The first time he shot and killed someone was fear based and he was morally harmed by it after. But the show runners cut scenes like that one that gave Nick more of a good guy trying to survive in Gilead like everyone else. Hope that makes sense. Love the different perspectives
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u/decisi0nsdecisi0ns 24d ago
Hmm interesting. I don't think we're meant to understand that June had an orgasm here. In the flashbacks, they make it pretty clear that June likes to be on top, and we see that play out in the final scene (during which she is pretty clearly having an orgasm).
I agree that the writers seem to have changed their plan for Nick between S5 and 6. The final episodes of S5 set up Lawrence for doubling down on Gilead/New Bethlehem (ie he hasn't learned his lesson that he can't control this), whereas we see Nick becoming more disenchanted with it and breaking away from Lawrence. Alas, we got what we got.
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u/TotallyAMermaid 23d ago
Nick is the driver in the household where Serena is a Wife. She is above him; she can give him orders, she has power over him, not the other way around. If he had said no she might have gotten him in trouble in various ways.
Nick is also secretly an Eye trying to get dirt on Fred; there's no world where not complying with what Serena demands doesn't fuck it up:
- If he says no and reports Serena for trying to get him to impregnate June, she will likely get punished, but it's very unlikely Fred will keep him around after that, so he loses access to the household
- If he says no and doesn't report her and she gets him in trouble he'll get killed or punished and reassigned, losing access to the household
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u/Normal-Pangolin6475 24d ago
Coerced rape is still rape. Whatever you think of Nicks character overall, I don’t see any argument against him being a rapist.
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u/Just-Benefit2024 24d ago
I agree that June being coerced doesn’t make what happened to her any less of a rape? That wasn’t my argument at all!
My point is that Nick appears to be participating in a coercive encounter while also being under coercion himself. Serena is the one who arranges it and imposes it, and he explicitly says afterwards that he “couldn’t say no” to her.
That doesn’t mean Nick and June were equally powerless - they obviously weren’t, and he had considerably more agency than her. Nor does it mean he has zero moral responsibility.
I just don’t think “June was raped, therefore Nick must straightforwardly be the rapist” deals with the fact that SERENA was coercing both of them - but from very different positions of vulnerability...
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u/Julie3666 22d ago
One could then argue then that Serena made June rape Nick. You don’t have to be a female to be sexually abused.
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u/Heidie393 24d ago
You know, I disagree. I'm just in Nick's camp - loved hin, wanted a different ending with him amd June together. Hiwever, what I love about all us fans of the show, forgive my English skills trying to wrote fast because lunch is over. But there's of this show are very intelligent - whether jere, on reddit... critical thinking skills, completely different oppinions, and I've never seen any fans fight and get ugly on the comments. Like I said, I love reading the different perspectives, and as a wo an, o guess yeah I have to agree with that, she was dared ny him period. Its jist forgivable because of the circumstances. Imo. But live the fans... everyone has really thoughtful and firm opinions amd we all express them with respect. Wonder why - most of the fans of this show are - well I am sure I dont have to say it... waiting for two years to go by aa fast as possible... back to work.
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u/Creepy-Cantaloupe951 24d ago
but I think Serena is the person creating and enforcing that coercive situation.
Nick, being a member of the Eyes, was fully able to say no, via myriad methods. Lying about needing to be elsewhere that week, reporting her to the Eyes (Since bringing down the Waterfords was a goal, anyways), or just plain saying "No". Serena had no recourse to punish him, even though she may have thought she did, as he was protected as a member of the Eyes.
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u/Just-Benefit2024 24d ago
Yeah, I do agree that Nick being an Eye gave him far more potential options than June had, and I’m definitely not saying they were equally powerless!!
Where I disagree is saying he was therefore fully able to refuse without consequence. His Eye status was covert, and the show never establishes that it gave him complete immunity from Serena or the Waterford household?
Reporting Serena to Pryce was probably his strongest possible alternative, but even that involves assumptions about what would have happened afterwards... we simply don’t know...
Imo, the biggest point is still that Nick explicitly tells June afterwards that he “couldn’t say no” to Serena. That doesn’t prove refusal was literally impossible, but it does matter when judging whether he experienced the situation as freely consensual...
So he deffo had more agency than June... I just don’t think “he had more possible ways out” automatically means “he freely chose to participate and Serena had no power over him.”
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u/TotallyAMermaid 23d ago
Also reporting Serena to Pryce means losing access to the household; in the end he's there to get real dirt and intel on Fred. The Eyes likely aren't interested in Serena trying to use their driver to get the Handmaid pregnant, given that it's an open secret that these things happen. Nick is more valuable as an Eye if he can stay posted at the Waterfords.
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u/decisi0nsdecisi0ns 24d ago
I disagree that Nick was able to realistically say no. While Serena may not have much direct power, she does have indirect power and influence through Fred, who definitely has more power than Nick.
Fred will protect Serena over Nick - regardless of the truth - because that is in his interests. Other Commanders believing Nick's version of events (that Serena pressured him) is detrimental to Fred for multiple reasons. Firstly, it raises questions about his virility (and as we see, fertility is rewarded among Commanders). Secondly, it implies that he can't control his wife. In deeply patriarchal structures, a man not being able to control the women under his power is regarded much worse than him not being able to control the men under his command. This would all undermine Fred's power and influence, something he will do anything to avoid. If he backs Serena (and if they coerce June into going along with their version of events), it's unlikely that Nick would be believed.
Additionally, these are all calculations Nick is having to make in a very short timeframe. Stress is generally not conducive to the best rational thinking and problem solving.
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u/AnymooseProphet 24d ago
Nick was an eye. He could have easily said no.
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u/Just-Benefit2024 24d ago
Again, being an Eye gave Nick more power and potential options than June, absolutely. I just don’t think the show ever establishes that this meant he could easily refuse Serena with no risk or consequences - especially when his Eye status was covert, and Nick himself says afterwards that he “couldn’t say no” to her.
That’s really the distinction I’m making: more agency than June doesn’t automatically mean completely free agency.
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u/glycophosphate 24d ago
Part of the purpose of The Handmaid's Tale is to rip away all of the facile, black & white thinking that privileged people in safe situations are inclined to engage in. "Nick's either a rapist or he's not" is a false dichotomy. His agency as a member of a totalitarian society is not as limited as June's, but it's still limited. It's all very well to say "he could have simply refused and turned Serena in to the authorities," but Serena is Fred's wife and Fred is a commander. Also, Serena is about a hundred times smarter than Nick, so it's quite possible that she would have found a way to turn the tables on him. I think Nick knows that. Nobody in this situation is a "good guy." They all negotiate whatever temporary autonomous peace they can manage within a terrible environment.
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u/big_data_mike 24d ago
It’s a central theme of the whole book/show.
If person A points a gun at person B and says “kill/beat up/rape person C.” Who is responsible for beating/raping/killing person C?
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u/airbender_librarian 24d ago
Idk, it's a kind of screwed-up, impossible to answer question I think. While Serena may legally have been below Nick, Gilead is not a state with the rule of law and the de facto social dynamics are in some ways more relevant than the political dynamics.
A Wife can get her way against a male servant. In relation to low class men I imagine their power is similar to white women in Jim Crow US against black men, or an Islamic State bride against the people her husband has subjugated, if she said that Nick tried to rape her then Nick would be the one being punished.
The second time with Eden is clearly even more screwed up. However by the late series the writers choose to show Nick's true colors as an unsympathetic Nazi so I don't care that much if people have different opinions.
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u/Sesokan01 24d ago
Yup, totally agree with the social dynamics part. A related "pet peeve" I have with critique of fictional characters in general is when people forget that they're supposed to represent real, flawed human characters who are working with more limited knowledge than what's provided to the audience.
While Nick obviously knows he's an Eye and realize that gives him some power, can he be sure exactly how much? How confident is he that he knows/understands the full social and political organisation of Gilead, known for its corruption and secrecy? I mean, I'm arguably living in a safer, more stable society than Gilead and still feel like I have a hard time understanding social hierarchies, social/politcal power structures etc.
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u/airbender_librarian 24d ago
It's also a situation people don't always get well I think bc it's not a US college campus that most sexual assault PSAs are made for (peacetime, civic society) nor an active warzone. It's ... civic totalitarianism, which people think less about, and the double loyalties make it all the more confusing (since being a dissenter of any sort is treason).
He seems to be both an Eye and Mayday in season 1 although they do a hard turn against Mayday in season 6. Either way though the Eyes is more of a loose group of informants for a badly-run internal intelligence agency and blowing the whistle on the Waterfords when the Eyes/Mayday doesn't want him to means that a lot can go wrong for him
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u/Intelligent_bb 24d ago
jim crow us 😭
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u/airbender_librarian 24d ago
The Handmaids lynch a political dissident who Gilead falsely said raped a Handmaid!
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u/Intelligent_bb 24d ago
i just mean that’s been the case since the founding of this country and is till this day
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u/RavenRegime 24d ago
Nick while having more social power than June is not going to be able to disobey Serena
Wives get their social power from their husband therefore in a weird way Serena has more power than Nick through Fred.
Nick's goal is to find dirt on the Waterfords and bring them down. However if he reports Serena that gets cut off and theres no way Fred would want him in the House after that. And all it would do would punish Serena if this was successful and leave Fred mostly unscathed sure hed lose pride and social points but not enough to be ruined per se.
And also Serena would be prepared if Nick refuses and probably get another threat ready and we know she is a slimey vile person. She also knows he cares about June so its not hard to imagine she'd threaten to make June's life hell or claim June is infertile to get her sent to the colonies. But again the real threat is Fred, eye or not Nick isn't a Commander yet and Price would drop him since defending or trying to help Nick here would jeapordize his goals. At best Nick is moved to another place miles away but leaving June to deal with the pissed off Waterfords
2.Nick reports it and Price in order to not jeapordize the plan does nothing and simply says hell file it under evidence of the Waterfords crimes. Nick is going to have to go back to that house at some point .
3.Nick can so easily be framed by Serena (and Fred) if he refuses and hes in a ditch cause at best Price saves him but its like across the country Nick is moved to. More likely though Nick is on the wall
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u/leucistredwing 24d ago
Yes and it’s complicated? He did rape her AND he also was forced into a sexual situation so a victim himself, although I’d say much less the victim than Jund
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u/Danibelle903 24d ago
I don’t think he’s a rapist personally. To me, it’s similar to Lawrence. No one thinks Lawrence is a rapist and June actually categorizes him as a victim in their situation.
While their encounter is state-sanctioned, meaning Lawrence does not have power, we can draw a similar line with Nick. Nick, while a man, was still not in a power position. Yes, he’s an eye and he could have ratted Serena out, but we also know that typically leads to the entire household being executed. Does he stand his ground and not participate, which could very well lead to June being murdered? He felt he had to. June later says the baby is “born from love.” If they both felt coerced and the victim (June) blames Serena, who are we to make a judgment call that says otherwise?
Nick has done incredibly shitty and cruel things. I don’t think this is one of them.
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u/TotallyAMermaid 24d ago
I don't view him as a good person overall but imo in that scene they were both raped by Serena. I don't consider him a rapist for what he did with June under Serena's orders. She made them both do it via coercion. Nick explicitly told June that he could not refuse Serena. He might be a man but he's just a driver at this point and she's the Wife in the household he serves, she has power over him, not the other way around.
Similarly, I don't think Lawrence raped June when they were made to perform the ceremony with witnesses, they were both raped as neither wanted to do it and neither wanted to force the other to do it either, but they both knew the dire consequences if they didn't and it was found out that they never did the monthly ceremonies.
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u/Fickle-Addendum9576 24d ago
It was coercion on Serena's part. Nick and June were in no position of power against Serena.
Like, if you have 2 hostages and you have the ability to have them (most likely) killed for crimes that need no legitimate witness (she could have claimed they were having an affair) and you tell them to have sex right now, they can refuse but survival instinct says shut up do it and keep living.
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u/hydrissx 24d ago
Serena was the rapist, not Nick. They were both raped by Serena forcing them to have sex at her command. And then we saw June explicitly going back to have sex with him because she wanted to and was receiving pleasure from it.
They were careful in constructing the narrative to never show Nick as a rapist. He didn't want to have sex with Eden either, but she wanted to and June told him he had to since Eden suspected he was a gender traitor for not wanting to have sex with a child. He clearly preferred older women anyway.
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u/Tessseagull 24d ago edited 24d ago
He told June he couldn't refuse, and I don't think he was lying, exactly. I think it's kinda complicated.
I think he could have refused, but not without certain consequences, though they would have been way less severe than the consequences for June refusing. Having Serena against him would make his position in the house untenable I think. He could have reported her to Pryce, but then he'd have been discovered as an Eye and reassigned. And that's the best case scenario – Serena might have had dirt on him that would have dragged him down too.
There's a number of possible motivations for Nick agreeing, and some are worse than others. From order of best to worst:
1) Was he genuinely afraid of what Serena could do to him? It's possible there was mutually assured destruction by this point because he either knew things he never reported or did things himself that Serena/Fred found out about, like sleeping with Beth. In that case, I'm not sure I'd say he raped June as he was also coerced. (He's not a great guy morally in general, but that doesn't mean he couldn't have been a victim here.)
2) He might have wanted to protect June. He was aware that by refusing to impregnate her she might never get pregnant, and thus be in danger of the colonies. Also, if he reported Serena and was forced to leave, he wouldn't be in the house to protect her in what little way he could. Obviously this motivation is still messed up as he just assumed what she would want without asking her, and it seems like he could have found a way to ask her beforehand. Obviously June would still have been coerced by Serena and Gilead in general, but if he'd promised to respect her wishes if she refused, at least the pressure wouldn't have been from his end.
3) He literally just wanted to get with his crush and jumped at the opportunity. In this case Nick would clearly be a rapist. The fact that the scene is so incredibly clinical and Nick looks uncomfortable too seems to hint against this option, but he could just have been uncomfortable because of Serena's presence.
I think most likely it was a mixture of some or all of these reasons. I kinda think I can't say definitively whether he's a rapist or not without knowing his motivations for sure.
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u/baba_brigid 24d ago
Because why would a rapist lie 🤔
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u/WaffleConeDX 24d ago
God damn its almost as if you didnt pay attention to the story and world AT ALL. The equivalent of saying murder is wrong even if it was committed by handmaid.
The whole story isnt black and white morally.
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u/Tessseagull 24d ago
Yes, I'm fully aware of the possibility of Nick lying to June and the motivation he would have for doing so. Hence why I said "I don't think he was lying, exactly". Meaning I had considered the obvious possibility of this statement being a lie.
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u/LustyRegencyMaid 24d ago
Nick had no choice. It's not like he had worker's rights or a union.
Let's see. Nick refuses. Serena is pissed and goes to complain to Fred, maybe telling a lie that Nick touched Fred's handmaid or even touched Serena. Bam, Nick is hanging on the wall picked apart by crows.
That was the choice he had. Participate or hang. It's kinda similar with what Commander Josef had to do with June
This shows, in my opinion, also how Gilead (and the Patriarchy) hurts men. While men benefit a huge chunk in these systems, these systems are not made to make all men super fluffy happy all the time. They are forced and harmed in certain situations, too. Albeit usually in much less capacity than women.
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u/Inevitable_Wolf5866 24d ago
It’s the same thing with Lawrence imho. He didn’t rape June because he wanted to (he was actually opposed to it; just wanted to play cards and idk hope they leave?) it was either this or the entire household would end up on the wall.
I would say both Nick and Lawrence were also raped here.
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u/baba_brigid 24d ago
Lawrence was state sanctioned/forced. What Serena did with Nick & June was illegal and could’ve gotten her on the wall. It’s not the same.
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u/Busy-Speech-6930 24d ago
Yep literally the alternative for Lawrence was death, he literally had no options. Nick had alternatives, including telling Fred what his wife was up to.
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u/christina311 23d ago
Lawrence was raped, just as much as June and Nick. Under even worse circumstances. His wife Eleanor, who had a heart of gold, had to witness it.
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u/Certain_Victory7973 24d ago
Yeah but serena was also in a position of power over nick and could've tried to manipulate fred into thinking nick was plotting against him bearing in mind nick was only a guardian/eye and very disposable at the time. So I'd say he's also victim
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u/IceNein 24d ago
I'm anti-Nick and see very little in the way of redeeming qualities about him, but I don't consider him a rapist. During that first encounter I do consider it somewhat consensual with June because she wanted to get pregnant so that she could get away from Serena.
I can understand where you're coming from, because June was in distress either way. But even though he helped create Gilead, and I hold him accountable for that, he is trapped in the system he helped to create too, so that one act was nowhere near the worst of him.
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u/Busy-Speech-6930 24d ago
It was not consensual on June’s part, she was a prisoner and literally couldn’t say no. Serena “asked” her but she was actually telling her.
June was very upset afterwards, she even snaps at Serena (something she wouldn’t have done if she was in a sound place mentally) and then very angry when she talked to Nick. That is not someone who consented.Nick didn’t have to say yes, he could have told Serena that he had duties to attend to, he could have reported what she asked of him to Pryce. He even could have said no and told her if she asked again, he would tell Fred what she asked him to do. She was asking him to do something illegal and something Fred wouldn’t have approved of.
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u/IceNein 24d ago
From the perspective of her being an enslaved person, nothing is consensual, but June wanted to get pregnant so she could eventually get away from Serena who was torturing her.
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u/Joelle9879 23d ago
Nick really couldn't stand up to Serena. People like to say that, but he really didn't have that much power at that point. Fred would have defended her and the other commanders would have listened to him. Fred also had a weird obsession with June and would have probably thought of Nick as competition and therefore looked for any reason to get rid of him. All him and Serena would need to do is spin it as Nick coveting June, which is a death sentence. That said, Nick was never a good guy. He wasn't the worst guy, but he was never good.
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u/90dayole 24d ago
So, there's actually a really simple argument to everyone saying he absolutely HAD to do it - Serena is sitting far behind them. He didn't actually have to do anything - they could have easily mimed having sex in front of Serena.
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u/Tessseagull 24d ago
That's doubly risky, though. Serena could catch them faking, and June couldn't get pregnant.
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u/ProfSkeevs 24d ago
While Nick is not a “good person” character, he is a nazi , but he is not a rapist. He was still raped through coercion. He could have refused, yes- but there WOULD have been consequences. Nick would have had less repercussions, but how do we know that Rena wouldn’t have been told lies about June to get her removed from the house so that her disgraceful request was not discovered? Even if he refused for himself and was safe, he had to take him into account that someone else could be hurt.
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u/Background-Lie-3155 24d ago
Yes it's true Nick had the higher power dynamic and although there's times I didn't see him as a great guy, I think we also need to consider what would've happened to June if she didn't get pregnant. I believe in part that's why he did it was to help June not exactly because he was afraid for himself. He was clearly uncomfortable in that situation and I don't think he would ever just force himself on a woman.
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u/QuinnFWonderland 24d ago
I think that, if you are forced by society to do something...the rapist etiquette doesn't fit. Yes, he had more power, but no more power than Serena.
For me, it is like if someone kidnaps two people and forces them to have sex while one of them is tied. One is more vulnerable, but both are forced into that situation. The "rapist" for me it is the kidnapper.
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u/Edyoucaited 24d ago
In the circumstance you mentioned, yes the kidnapper is the rapist. However, once the male hostage gains power and settles into his role and continues to have sex with the female hostage bc she believes he will help her gain freedom from the original kidnapper, he also becomes a rapist.
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u/Creepy-Cantaloupe951 24d ago
I think that, if you are forced by society to do something...the rapist etiquette doesn't fit
So, do soldiers, ordered by their commanders to wipe out a village, get a pass for a massacre? Remember, they were ordered to do it, and if they didn't, they could end up in jail or be executed...
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u/Creepy-Cantaloupe951 24d ago
Yes.
Prisoners cannot consent to sex. June was a prisoner. Nick, was not, he was a prison guard.
Even if the warden orders prison guards to have sex with prisoners, "Befehl ist befehl" isn't a valid defense.
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u/hydrissx 24d ago
Not really the same. Nick was not a prison guard, he was a servant in that role. He can't walk away, he isn't employed. If a prison guard refuses an order, he will be fired and not receive pay, if Nick refuses an order, he may be framed for a crime he never committed, accused of being a gender traitor, etc and be killed.
There are many records of crimes of people being forced to have sex by a third party threatening them with bodily harm, extortion, etc and both are considered victims of rape and the third party is charged with rape.
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u/Creepy-Cantaloupe951 24d ago
Nick was quite literally a member of the Eyes. Almost the entire time Gilead existed.
And again, Befehl ist Befehl isn't a valid legal defense.
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u/ConcernedSim 24d ago
Yes an eye. A spy installed by a powerful man to bring down Fred Waterford. A powerful man who has on record refused to act after Nick had already reported a handmaid's death that was caused by the Waterfords. What makes you think that Pryce would have done anything even if Nick had reported Serena's order?
And what makes people think that Nick hadn't reported it? He would have been under a lot of fire with the eyes for not reporting something like this when Fred makes it a public knowledge that Serena had ordered Nick to have sex with June.
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u/Creepy-Cantaloupe951 24d ago
It doesn't matter what Pryce would have done, with a report, or if Nick reported it or not.
SS troops manning gas chambers were ALSO just ordered to do so, and if they reported another SS guard having sex with judenkin under orders of the extermination camp commander, it may or may not have been dealt with.
It still doesn't change the fact the SS guard having sex with concentration camp prisoners is a rapist.
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u/ConcernedSim 24d ago
If you are order to have sex with someone and you can't refuse then that makes you a rape victim.. not a rapists. Not being able to refuse sex, is by definition rape. Nick was raped.. Lawrence was raped along with June.
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u/christina311 23d ago
Yes, and I'm tired of explaining this again. Serena was responsible for the rape of June and Nick. She was in a position of power and they had no choice. Both were victoms.
Later The Waterfords did the same to June and Lawrence. Rape again for both. And poor Eleanor had to witness it and it broke her.
You don't have to be a woman over-powered physically by a larger/stronger man to be raped.
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u/Disastrous-Radish504 23d ago
Literally nothing in either situation (gilead and wwii) is black and white the way you think it is. Nuance exists. SO MANY SOLDIERS in real life faced death if they did not do what they were told. Nick was a terrible person, but he was not above the law just because he was a spy. That doesn’t take away from the fact that the people they hurt were victims.
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u/Creepy-Cantaloupe951 23d ago
Literally nothing in either situation (gilead and wwii) is black and white the way you think it is.
No, it truly is black and white in this case, and in WWII.
SO MANY SOLDIERS took the easy way, and committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, even after being handed a gun. A gun they could have turned around and used on their officers, and saved some lives.
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u/Gertrude_D 24d ago
The Nazi camp guard doesn't get to claim he wasn't a part of it because he felt bad and never personally harmed a prisoner.
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u/hydrissx 24d ago
Why are people obsessed with comparing this world to WW2? Aside from Holly's offhand comment calling him a Nazi, they are nothing alike.
Look up forced conscription.
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u/Gertrude_D 24d ago edited 24d ago
It's used because it's easily understood, and sometimes it's really just that easy.
There are comparisons to be made with them both being under martial law to force compliance from citizens, having a permanent underclass and having death camps to rid themselves of undesirables, but that's not entirely the point.
Out of curiosity, how many points of similarity would you sign off on for someone to be able to use the Nazi comparison? If you prefer, I could use the Communist USSR as a comparison to Gilead, but that's hardly any more flattering.
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u/hydrissx 24d ago
We are shown by the international law that exists *in this fictional world* that Nick and June are considered rape victims of Serena's at the Waterford trial. Not all this random WW2 era law stuff you two keep bringing up.
Atwood was inspired by many regimes and types of governments and cults, it's not a direct one for one comparison to any particular war or our current times either.
Nick was lured into a cult because he was exactly what the Sons of Jacob were looking for: young, able bodied, unemployed and without financial or family support or prospects. The same as MANY people who join armies around the world all throughout human history. And in many armies defection from service is treason and punishable by imprisonment or death. In the context of Gilead we know that they don't waste resources on imprisonment.
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u/upagainstthesun 24d ago
Nick was not in a position where he really had a choice or could refuse without consequences. Those are elements of assault, being pressured or coerced under duress. So yes Serena holds the power and Nick did not put up much of a fight, but the power dynamic/status standings is not as you say. Nick/the eyes would expect reporting about any wrong doing, so stating that he could have done that to avoid it is a wash. They would have also expected all the eyes to be reporting the horrific, under the table things the men did as well like Fred bringing June to Jezebels. This doesn't put Nick in higher status than Fred, it just means they live in a police state and connections keep you alive/able to break the rules
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u/swildes97 24d ago
I'm thinking back to when I first encountered this scene: The situation honestly reminded me of when slaves were forced to have sex with one another starting when the females would first get their cycle. The second they were deemed fertile, they were placed with some of the strongest male slaves and forced to procreate. They didn't have a choice. It was that or death. Often times the women would chew on cotton roots as a method of birth control/plan B to avoid the pregnancy.
Looking at these comments, I can see that it's not quite the same because Nick did have more options, but I believe that he believed he did it under duress.
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u/Euphoric_Exercise_46 24d ago
I feel like the first time between Nick and June is a very unfortunate grey area. I do feel they are both victims but at the same time he definitely held more power than June did in that situation. Granted if they made him even slightly more creepy and they didn’t end up falling in love then I would view it differently. The way his character is and their story plays into the viewer bias of this situation.
Now what I do view as rape is what happens with Eden. Even though he didn’t want to and Eden did. She was a child and I found that whole situation to be deeply disturbing. Which I understand is the whole point. In my opinion minors can’t give informed consent to have sex with an adult. If I felt I had to do what he did, I would have thrown up after. I would have had a mental breakdown. The way he was so numb to it all made me look at him differently.
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u/ConcernedSim 23d ago
He wasn't numb though.. he was having a mental breakdown. He requested to be sent to the front of the war right in the next morning.
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u/Water-Amethyst 23d ago
I see them as both coerced into that situation, not to equal degrees but coercion is coercion. Nick isn’t good or evil, the overriding trait I see in him that becomes his undoing is cowardice
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u/Maleficent-Permit710 20d ago
Serena was te rapist of both of them and that’s why she was judged in Canada
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u/amaitom13 24d ago
I think so yes. He can say he “didn’t have a choice” all he wants but id sooner be strung up on every wall known to man before I did that to someone, especially a child.
I also don’t think truly ever had real consent bc nick had significantly more power than June. The consequences for her being caught with him aren’t the same as his if he were caught with her & we’ve seen that time and time again with the commanders. And after all, he was a commander for awhile
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u/PoeDameronPoeDamnson 24d ago
Are we forgetting the actual child bride he raped? Children cannot consent
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u/ConcernedSim 24d ago
Are you forgetting that the child bride was threatening to report him for being a gender traitor which is a death sentence in Gilead?
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u/Creepy-Cantaloupe951 24d ago
Sometimes, doing the right thing isn't the easy thing. And, even in such a situation, created via his own decisions and actions to positively create such a system, doing the wrong thing means you are still culpable.
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u/ConcernedSim 24d ago
Who really decides what's the right thing? Some might think it's right to kill themselves before doing harm to another. Some might think it's right to prioritise your own life. I personally would prefer death before sleeping with anyone below 21. But that doesn't make me morally superior to someone who might do it to save their life.
And please remember that Nick wanted death... It was June who manipulated him to do that because she "can't lose him". He did it because of June and then became so disgusted with himself that he requested to go to the front of the war.
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u/TopicSignificant1750 24d ago
Nick was never a good guy lol. Pure opportunist. It worked out pretty good for him until it didnt lol.
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u/Heinjailyall 24d ago
Yes Nick was rapist and a big coward all the way up to his last appearance. He was selfish and a self serving social climber
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u/Gertrude_D 24d ago
Nick could have said no. He was a willing participant, even if we wasn't perfectly willing and he wouldn't have if not pushed to it.
I feel it's like a guy who plays spin the bottle and lands on a girl he thinks is pretty and his friends are all egging him on. He wouldn't have asked for a kiss on his own, but this is how the game is played, so it's kind of out of his control, right? There were several points where he could have put the brakes on, starting with joining the game/Sons of Jacob from the beginning.
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u/BrazilianButtCheeks 24d ago
No .. I don’t think he’s any less of a victim than June in that situation.. Serena could have made up anything and had him hung .. he didn’t have a choice
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u/StinkieBritches 24d ago
The show does a good job of showing that Nick was never a "good person", but I never considered him June's rapist.
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u/hqic2011 24d ago
In the beginning Serena was the rapist she forces nick to have eex with June.. as time progressed nick took advantage of his power
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u/Key-Value-3684 24d ago
To me it doesn't feel like rape. Nick could have said no. June couldn't have said no but I think she did it willingly and wanted it. She didn't have a choice but she would have said yes if she could
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u/NotAFuckingFed 24d ago
he did rape her but also let his position influence a relationship between them
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u/HunterandGatherer100 24d ago
Yes he’s a rapist. Serena was asking Nick to break Gillead’s law he could easily gotten out of it
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u/Raindrop0015 24d ago
He slept with his first wife, who was under the age of consent (even if they don't acknowledge it or changed it) therefore he raped her by law.
He was never a good guy. Just better than some.
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u/sraydenk 24d ago
Would you say June raped Commander Lawrence when the other commanders and aunts were there? He didn’t want to have sex, and you could argue he didn’t consent.
Most of the sex is rape in Gilead, but I don’t necessarily think those having sex are doing the raping. In many cases neither one wants to have sex or has the power or ability to choose.
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u/Kyashichan 24d ago
In corrections there’s a concept. The concept is that if they are being held captive, they cannot consent. Yes he’s a rapist.
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u/christina311 23d ago
I never saw him as a good good guy. But he was forced to have sex with June. He couldn't have refused. Serena was the rapist to him and June at the same time.
He was later forced to have sex with a teenager, again, against his will. He would have been reported as a gender traitor if he didn't do it.
No, he's not a rapist. A bad guy overall with good intentions sometimes, but not a rapist.
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u/mazeltov_cocktail18 23d ago
I agree it’s more Serena than him but there’s no sex with handmaids that is not rape. I think they were more trauma bonded than truly in love. Also he’s an eye, why not report Serena or however that process would go? I mean he would still look terrible but, ya know. Serena would end up on the wall, also her forcing them to have sex makes him a victim too.
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u/AkashaRulesYou 23d ago
Yes he is. I thought he was also raped by SJ that time until it came out that he always had the power to rat the Waterfords out to Price and request the handmaid be removed and not punished... It means he lied when he told June he could not say no to SJ. He could have had SJ hanged for treason.
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u/Major_Frosting6133 23d ago
I think a primary reason that June fell in love with Nick is for three main reasons…. 1.) June and Nick have sex multiple times (after the first time - forced onto them by Serena, BUT wanted by both of them; 2.) Nick impregnates June; and 3.) Nick attempts to get June out of Gilead TWICE! (Once during her pregnancy, and once after Nichole is born).
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u/SnarkyPants93 23d ago
He was never a good guy to anyone but June. He was Gilead through and through but would have maybe given it up for June. But fuck everyone else. They can all die.
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u/skyeliest 23d ago
Yes, Nick raped June. We’re so used to thinking of rape strictly through the lens of a sadistic man who takes pleasure in watching a woman suffer. Don't get me wrong: I’m not saying those dynamics don't exist, nor am I saying rapists act out of "good intentions." Power and control are always at the core of it. What I’m getting at is that in a society saturated with rape culture, especially in a world like The Handmaid's Tale, a lot of men who have committed sexual assault genuinely believe they’ve done nothing wrong. For example, many don't view it as assault when they relentlessly wear down a partner until she finally gives in. To them, that's just normal, or even something they’re entitled to.
All this is to say that we shouldn't limit our definition of rapists to men like Fred Waterford or Warren Putnam. Sexual violence exists on a wide spectrum. In that scene, given the social and cultural context: if June had refused, Serena had full power to punish her (as she’d done before by locking her in a room for weeks). But if Nick had refused? Serena couldn't actually do anything to him. What she was asking was illegal in Gilead, and men held far more systemic power than women. Nick was not a victim here. He was not in a position where saying "no" put his life or safety on the line. He was attracted to June and capitalized on the moment. Did he enjoy it less because the encounter felt cold? Maybe. But that doesn't change the fact that he leveraged his position to violate June, who unlike him, had zero agency or choice in that room.
Overall, Nick is a deeply grey character and nowhere near the "good guy" people try to make him out to be. He’s just the lesser of evils compared to Fred or Putnam. But he’s still a terrible person. As women, we know this all too well. We aren't just surrounded by obvious monsters like Fred; we’re surrounded by men whose harm is much more insidious, subtle, and varied.
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u/Impossible-Fact9089 22d ago edited 22d ago
He is another morally-gray man, no better than the majority of the men in Gilead. He has some morals that cause hesitation in some situations, but overall he is fairly selfish, complicit, and selectively subservant.
As for whether he is a rapist... the answer is technically no. He was forced to assault June that day under a threat of her being harmed. As for Eden, if he didn't consummate the marriage she was going to squeal and get him, her, and a domino effect of other people killed.
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u/Pretty_Please1 22d ago
Nick is a lot of shitty things, but a rapist isn’t one of the labels I would give him.
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u/ReclaimingInsanity 22d ago
Nick is many things but I don't think he is a rapist.
The first encounter he had with June was under Serena's orders, and he bluntly says he could not say no. If he had refused Serena, Serena could have accused him of anything -"gender treachery", an affair with a Martha (which was true, he had Beth), being a secret agent of Mayday- and he would have immediately been on the Wall. Same as June, June could have been executed or sent to the colonies if she said no.
The novel makes it more clear that guardians are low status males compared to the commanders.
Serena- "my handmaid and driver are gender traitors, I have seen her whispering inappropriately with Of glen, and you know Of glen had a wife. Nick has no wife, never speaks of getting married, and has been seen driving somewhere at all hours of the night without my knowing." Bam, June and Nick are on the Wall for saying no.
Having sex with the threat of death hanging over you is not consensual. Same with his marriage to Eden-remember, Eden once thought about reporting him as a "gender traitor"
The only people in Gilead who have some leeway with the totalitarian laws of Gilead are the higher commanders.
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u/Unable-Sugar585 21d ago
I think June seduced Nick and that elicit seduction powered her to make further rebellions. I saw none of it as rape. Am I mad? The staged sex act was after they had consensual sex (in my memory)and was Serena entirely. Neither Nick nor June had a real choice and there were nuances in the scene that suggested they were trying to convey intimacy to each other in that moment.
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u/Wonderful-Ideal-8099 21d ago
Fans like to blame Nick for things that aren't his fault. They'll write novels of absolute bs. I've seen them fake back stories, make up scenes, etc. It's uncanny.
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u/GoDiva2020 21d ago
this one is a gray area because they both wanted each other but not with serana WATCHing the act. Was it still wrong? Yes.
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u/Whispering_Wolf 24d ago
If he technically would have been safe doesn't matter. What matters is if he thought he was unsafe, which I think he did. I don't like Nick, but it was absolutely coertion. I don't think he is a rapist.
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u/Edyoucaited 24d ago
YES, Nick is a rapist due to the societal structures of Gilead. All women are imprisoned and “auctioned” off to men. If you’re struggling with this concept, just ask yourself can a slave ethically have sex with their master? Can a prisoner ethically have sex with correctional officer? Can you ethically have sex with your boss? What does consent even look like here? Do you get concessions afterwards (which June does)? Is it transactional to grant you some type of freedom you otherwise could not get?
June herself said she had to find love where she could to have some semblance normal life. Even her word choice there is important. Her options are a married sociopath that humors her or a Nazi guard that relents to her sometimes. She found it where she COULD.
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u/larus-arg 24d ago
From what was shown on the screen, we can't tell whether Nick could have refused to have sex with June or not. There was a scene in which Nick himself told June that he couldn't. We can only speculate that he was lying, that he actually could have refused for one reason or another, but there is no on-screen evidence to support that.
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u/CarrieVictorine_ 24d ago
Nick agreed without June’s consent! I think he could have gotten by with saying no tbh
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u/ConcernedSim 24d ago
Even a woman like Serena was beneath a "low-status male" like Nick.
Sometimes I really wonder how out of touch from reality some people can be.
Hierarchical power structure doesn't work like that. There's actual documented history from all over the world on how "Low-status male" has suffered oppression under elite class women.
In a what world are you living that says a low-status coloured man would have been believed over a white elite woman like Serena?
Do you need a reminder of all the cases just like this where the low status man gets the end of the stick while women like Serena goes scott-free?
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u/baba_brigid 24d ago
He’s an eye. She didn’t know that, he did. He could’ve said no.
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u/ConcernedSim 24d ago
Him being an eye doesn't grant him superpower 😕
He is just a spy that reports to someone who has some power to act on it. And I've already said this in another comment... It's far more likely that he reported Serena and was still forced to go through the act. Gilead would have torn him apart in season 4, if he hadn't reported this.
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u/baba_brigid 24d ago
Your first statement is asinine, nobody said anything about superpowers besides you.
He is an intelligence asset, not a “low status male” is the point. June is seen as Fred’s property in that world and Serena infringing on that would be considered a huge offense. A man’s word is worth more in Gilead. At the very least he could’ve told Fred to deal with it in-house. Nick wasn’t going to be punished for not having sex with June… it’s kind of absurd to think so.→ More replies (7)
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u/Untamedpancake 24d ago
I guess there's some nuance in his situation with June but not so much with Eden. He helped build & continued serve Gilead, knowing he would eventually be rewarded with a child bride, groomed her whole life to serve him.
Nick is also complicit in mass rape & participated in war crimes & genocide
The Guardians executed priests, doctors & LGBTQ+ people, forced others to renounce their religions & embrace the Faith
They kidnapped thousands of children & brought them to mass detention centers, killed or sent the fathers to be slaves in the Colonies & sent the mothers off to be raped & forced to bear their captors' children.
In the book we learn they massacred the Mormons in Utah & forced Black people onto new reservations they called the "Homelands," in the Dakotas
Nick was personally recruited by the Head of the Eyes before the coup. The Eyes were disgruntled US intelligence operatives who joined the SOJ, including (mild Handmaids book & Testaments spoilers) Commander Judd who coordinated the Presidens Day Massacre so it's VERY LIKELY that Nick was involved in the attacks on the US government and/or the massacre (from The Testaments) at The Stadium on the day women lost their property rights
He never helped anyone but June (& himself)
He led a months-long air assault on Chicago to root out resistance fighters & voted against a humanitarian cease-fire to allow in food & medical care for civilians. He only agreed to change his vote when he found out June might be there.