The story was about daughter-mother relationships rather than the act of rape. Since the reporting of the war in Vietnam, T.V. news has focussed on pictorial violence, especially if the commentary is bland. Coupled with easing of censorship, the desire to shock has been exploited. However, except for very young children, most research shows that students are quite capable of distinguishing between fact and fiction. Violence isn t new.
Most genres possess it.
Chaucer s characters told nasty stories. Even Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse use vicious methods to overcome their enemies. Often high fantasy or science fiction contain distanced and ritualistic violence and it is this distancing which make it acceptable to young readers. It is the shock value of closer this could happen to me stories which is often more disturbing. Present day grunge literature ties in with the fashionable feeling that nothing much matters.