Throughout history, society has been used as a means of inspiration for writers of all genres. More often than not, writers do not highlight the positive aspects of society, they choose to focus on the decline of the modern world. For a writer to truly capture this societal decline, they must be brave enough to accept it. For one writer in particular, her passion and style drive her to create literary masterpieces centered around this exact subject. Through her ability to focus on modern American society with topics such as rape, child abuse, and murder, Joyce Carol Oates' novels managed to capture in an unorthodox way the sometimes cruel reality of American life . Joyce Carol Oates was born on June 16, 1938, in Lockport, New York. Raised on her parents' farm in a rural area hit by the Great Depression, she attended the same one-room schoolhouse as her mother. As a young child, Oates developed a love for literature and writing well beyond his years. She was greatly encouraged by her parents and grandparents to pursue her passion for writing, and as a teenager she received her first typewriter. It was then that his passion finally came to life. In 1953, at just 15 years old, she wrote her first novel about the rehabilitation of a drug trafficker, which was later rejected by the publisher because the subject was not suitable for a young audience. Although his novels focus on the horrors of society, his childhood did not reflect them. Oates admitted that his childhood was "boring, ordinary, and nothing could interest people." Oates continued to write throughout high school and earned a scholarship to attend Syracuse University. There, she graduated at the top of her class in 1960, and in...... middle of paper......which is about 238,000 people per year. Of all these cases, 60% are never reported. Two-thirds of these accounts of rape were committed by someone the person knew. Besides child abuse, child abuse is a problem today. Around 70% of these children are under the age of four, and many never receive the help they need. There is also a link between physical, sexual and emotional abuse in families with incomes below $1,500 per year. In recent years, abuse and murder have begun to decline, but they are far from disappearing. However, while Joyce Carol Oates wrote the majority of her books between the 1960s and the 2000s, the murders and abuse were at their peak. Reading Oates' novels from this era, one can see the true tragedy of so many Americans having faces, many of whom were unable to find a voice to express what was happening to them..