Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Nick
- Character
- Nick is represented as suspicious as shown by the
conjunctions "or" and "but and the comma in "He’s
too casual, he’s not servile enough. It may be
stupidity, but I don’t think so. Smells fishy, they used
to say; or, I smell a rat" highlighting Offred
contradictory opinions towards Nick, however it could
be this mystery that attracts Offred to Nick as he
provides her with a way to rebel against Gilead
- He is presented as an untrustworthy character and the audience is unsure
whether or not to trust Nick with Offred. Although Offred reveals many
secrets to Nick, her doesn't reciprocate these secrets as Offred says "He
barely asks questions...he watched my face" showing maybe how is in't as
committed to their relationship as Offred. It is only at the very end of the
novel that he says "trust me".
- Some interpretations of Nick suggest he is an Eye and it there to catch out rebels like Offred. As Offred arrives at
the house, "he winks" at her, this could be a test to see how she reacts and if she responds to this treasonous act
- He is presented as having a lack of conformity with a "tilted cap at a jaunty angle" and a "cigarette stuck in
the corner of his mouth". The adjective "jaunty" connotes expressive personality and self-confidence
suggesting that Nick is trying to create an identity that Gilead has tried to take away. The "cigarette"
suggests that he has links to the underground networks as they're only available on the black market
which suggests he has lack of respect for the Gileadean regime
- Relationship
between Offred
and Nick
- At the end of the novel, when Offred is
particularly craving companionship, Nick
provides a partner for her to confide in
- She only tells Nick her real
name, she doesn't even
divulge this with the reader,
page 282 "I tell him my
name, and therefore I feel
my own". The possessive
pronoun shows how she
wants to take back control
of her own body and stop
being only known through
the label of a "Handmaid"
that she is given
- She knows the risks associated with a relationship such as this one
through the proxemic body language "we push each other away, not
far". This shows that although they know morally that this behaviour is
treacherous and forbidden, they cannot help but be together as they
satisfy each others needs for companionship
- Although Nick doesn't replace the role of Luke in
Offred's life, it gives her a reason to keep living and
fighting for a better life. The spacial deixis "I want to
be here, with Nick" shows how she no longer has a
desire to risk everything in escaping Gilead, as she
has a reason to live for the day. Also the modal verb
"want" creates a boulomaic modality which
highlights her desire for Nick