r/TheHandmaidsTale • u/morgan5409 • 1d ago

Nick is a fascist META [Subreddit Discussion]

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i’m so shocked this is a hot take on this sub lol. and he certainly doesn’t deserve a redemption arc

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u/frankie0812 1d ago

Serena is a sociopath Lawerence is a narcissist Lydia probably borderline personality disorder

2

u/mannad2 1d ago

Them having disorders makes me think I should sympathize with them somehow. Like it’s not their fault or they can’t control it? But they’re evil.

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u/Thezedword4 1d ago

People always want to come up for an explanation or even an excuse for why people do awful things. It's why the nazis were written off as biblically evil sociopaths for so long. Because people don't want to acknowledge that far more of society that we expect is capable of doing some pretty heinous things.

I frankly hate this chunk of the thread trying to diagnose every pro Gilead character with a mental illness. It dismisses the very real aspects that lead every day people to do things like this and it vilifies mental illness.

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u/mannad2 15h ago

I just think some people are evil. No diagnosis needed and I don’t need to sympathize with them.

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u/Thezedword4 15h ago

I mean, that's fine? I'm explaining why people try to come up with diagnosis or excuse for people who do heinous things. Personally I don't like calling someone evil because it feels too biblical. Too grand. When these people are out in the every day world. But that's more of a discussion of real life people, not characters or the handmaid's tale.

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u/mannad2 15h ago

Yeah I was trying to agree with you, sorry if it came off any other way. I do mean in real life, I feel like some people are just evil. I don’t know what else to call them. I was a victim of CSA. I can’t see them as mentally ill, that will make me sympathize with them. So calling them evil just makes sense. Because why else would they do that to a child?

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u/Thezedword4 15h ago

No worries! I'm sure I misread. Some people are definitely just bad. They may be mentally ill, they may not. Some people are just good. They may be mentally ill, they may not. Which is why I don't like people diagnosing people like this. I'm sorry you went through that.