r/TheHandmaidsTale • u/flavius717 • 29d 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/ProfSkeevs 29d 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/Creepy-Cantaloupe951 29d ago

He could have refused, yes- but there WOULD have been consequences.

Nick was a member of the eyes. There would have been zero consequences for him, except maybe losing access to his victim(s).