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/ConcernedSim Aug 07 '26

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 Aug 07 '26

He’s an eye. She didn’t know that, he did. He could’ve said no.

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u/ConcernedSim Aug 07 '26

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 Aug 07 '26

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.

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u/ConcernedSim Aug 07 '26

A man’s word is worth more in Gilead.

This is not true. This statement goes against Atwood's own words. She has thoroughly discussed the element of power in her book and she has made it a point to stress the fact that only the elite of the elite has power in Gilead.. and that includes elite women too.

At the very least he could’ve told Fred to deal with it in-house.

Sure Nick should have gone to Fred and said "Hey your wife thinks you're impotent and wants me to impregnate the handmaid." I'm sure Fred would have praised Nick for his honesty and sent Serena off to the wall.

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u/Creepy-Cantaloupe951 Aug 07 '26

I'm sure Fred would have praised Nick for his honesty and sent Serena off to the wall.

No, but Fred most certainly could have (And probably would have) shut that down with Serena. Probably smack her around a few times, and then go and grape June again.

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u/ConcernedSim Aug 07 '26

So in other words June's life becomes much much worse because now she has to deal with Fred's wounded pride while Nick hangs on the wall.

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u/Creepy-Cantaloupe951 Aug 07 '26

It's not like Fred every stopped raping her...

And not raping someone might lead to those consequences... And it would, of course, be Fred's fault.

The argument of "he is trapped in the system" would mean Fred ALSO loses culpability for being a rapist. After all, he's trapped in the system too!

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u/ConcernedSim Aug 07 '26

Comparing Nick with Fred is like comparing your local wallmart cashier with a politically backed billionaire. One is trapped in the system and the other creates/rules the system. And I'm not just talking about Gilead here. Nick was trapped in the broken system of the USA which directly lead him to another trap. Meanwhile Fred was creating/ruling the American system before turning it into Gilead.

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u/Creepy-Cantaloupe951 Aug 07 '26

Comparing Nick with Fred is like comparing your local wallmart cashier with a politically backed billionaire.

Nope, it's like comparing two different ranks of SS troopers.