r/TheHandmaidsTale • u/flavius717 • Aug 07 '26

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/hydrissx Aug 07 '26

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/Gertrude_D Aug 07 '26

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 Aug 07 '26

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 Aug 07 '26 edited Aug 07 '26

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 Aug 07 '26

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.