In the novel "We Were the Mulvaneys" by Joyce Carol Oates, the act of rape causes the Mulvaney family to become distant and silent. Since no one wants to talk about the violent event except the youngest son Judd, there were consequences. The consequences of not talking about it are dramatic. The family looses contact with each other, and becomes angry towards each other. However, Judd wants to talk about it, and understand what happened. Since he does want to talk about it, he keeps in contact with every family member, and consequently there is no anger towards him.

After Michael Mulvaney Sr., the father, find outs about the rape, he becomes starts to drink heavily, become silent and angry with his family and consequently he loses all connection to his family. When Michael Sr. found out who did this to his daughter, he broke Zachary Lundt's, the...