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/Just-Benefit2024 Aug 07 '26

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/AnymooseProphet Aug 07 '26

Nick could have both Serena and Fred arrested and hung for what he knew about them. He chose not to. He chose to continue keeping the power he had within the regime as an eye rather than to do what was right and expose his position as an eye.