Neil Character Analysis in The Testaments

Neil is Nicole’s supposed father when she still believes her name is Daisy, though he is truly a Mayday operative tasked with raising Nicole alongside Melanie. Neil co-owns the second-hand clothing store, The Clothes Hound, from which he exchanges information with Aunt Lydia in Gilead via smuggled microfilm, until Gilead agents discover him and murder him.

Neil Character Timeline in The Testaments

The timeline below shows where the character Neil appears in The Testaments. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Daisy recounts that she’ll begin shortly before Neil and Melanie died, on what was supposedly her 16th birthday. Daisy doesn’t want a party,... (full context)

Neil and Melanie, Daisy’s parents, run a secondhand clothing store called The Clothes Hound on Queen... (full context)

Melanie and Neil never truly feel like Daisy’s parents; they always seem a little too careful and distant,... (full context)

...which will be Daisy’s first. She has spent all week making signs for it. However, Neil and Melanie firmly forbid her from going, saying that there will be too much press... (full context)

...instead they seem “anxious.” They talk about needing to relocate immediately and calling Ada, but Neil worries that they have no “fallback” in place yet. Daisy does not understand what is... (full context)

Religious Totalitarianism and Hypocrisy Theme Icon

...breaks into The Clothes Hound. They don’t take any money but do steal one of Neil’s old cameras, which he frets about nervously. That evening, Daisy finds Neil and Melanie watching... (full context)

...up, Ada is there instead and tells her to get in the car with her; Neil and Melanie were murdered by a car bomb at The Clothes Hound. Daisy is in... (full context)

Daisy sits in Ada’s car, trying to wrap her head around the thought of Neil and Melanie being dead. Ada steps out of the car, takes a wrench, and smashes... (full context)

...to tell her. Elijah explains that the day before was not her real birthday and Neil and Melanie are not her real parents. Daisy doesn’t believe him, though some part of... (full context)

...she’s underage—and they’d stoop to illegal measures as well. Nicole realizes that this is why Neil and Melanie didn’t want her at the march, where she’d be seen on the news,... (full context)

...whom Nicole used to be afraid. George saw the Eyes in The Clothes Hound with Neil and Melanie for several hours before they marched them out to the car and put... (full context)

...is truly being done about it, which causes Nicole a mixture of anger and sadness. Neil and Melanie weren’t well-known figures, so there is little public pressure. The Gilead embassy is... (full context)