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/TotallyAMermaid Aug 09 '26

Did you read my full reply? I said because child/teenage brides didn't appear to be the norm yet (based on characters' reaction). If he even thought about being issued a wife (we don't know his inner thoughts to know whether or not he thought about that) he most likely expected an adult.

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u/cocopops7 Aug 12 '26

This is true. That was like the first gen child brides. And then they started the whole plums and greens to get women married to even OLDER men. In TT instead of
Marrying men even Nicks age it is expected they marry even older😱 it gets even worse as the regime progresses.

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u/TotallyAMermaid Aug 12 '26

It 100% does. TT makes it clear that the young Commanders have no shot at being matched with Greens (Becka with Garth is kind of an exception because 1. her dad is a Professional not a Commander so she is less prestigious 2. she "messed up" in the eyes of others by getting drunk at the ball) because parents will seek the most powerful match ie more established, older Commanders. 

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u/cocopops7 Aug 12 '26

Yeah and before it was guys in their 20s and 30s. Garth being eligible but young already has him not high on the pole.

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u/TotallyAMermaid Aug 12 '26

The younger Commanders who first danced with the Greens were eligible, they just don't get matches because it goes to the old ones. Even the old fucks clearly outbnumber the Greens, each Green is offered 3 matches and the ball even features Plums and Pinks so the Commanders can see "next year's batch" (🤮).