In today's society, people tend to look at death and violence a lot differently than in the past. We are so frequently exposed to violence and death through the media; therefore, people are more comfortable with the idea of it. It is not until you are personally affected by someone's death that you truly realize how short life is. We are constantly reminded to "live life to the fullest" or "live every day like it's your last", but nobody really accepts the fact that his or her death could come at any second. In the short story, "Videotape" by Don DeLillo, we see a perfect example of just how life can end at any moment. Another key point I acknowledged while doing a close reading of "Videotape" is that the victim being filmed always has the disadvantage of losing his/her privacy. In "Videotape", DeLillo focused on three key points: how short life can be, the unexpected murder caught on video, and the privacy of the victim being filmed.

The narrator, who is watching the tape on the news, is completely mesmerized by the thought of how short life can be. This idea of the shortness of life also ties in with the idea of how unexpected the murder is. We see this when the narrator says, "Seeing someone at the moment he dies, dying unexpectedly. This is reason alone to stay fixed to the screen". Nowadays, it would be shocking if they showed a film clip of someone being murdered on national news. The story explains in vivid detail what is happening in the video and that anyone who has access to a television can see it. Of course, since the victim was killed in the shooting, he had no chance to stand up for his privacy that was stripped from him while he was being filmed.  Immediately after starting the story, the reader is interested. In the opening paragraphs of "Videotape", DeLillo uses familiarity to interest the reader. By using the second person point of view in the introductory paragraphs, the reader's attention is caught. For example: "You see a man...", "You know about families...", "You know how kids get involved...", and "You know how children with cameras..." (52). [It seems with this paragraph, your analysis is circling back. I'd suggest combing this paragraph and the previous one] This gives the reader a sense of how the narrator is feeling, and invites him/her into the story. From here on out in the story, the reader is hooked. This makes the story more personal and life impacting for the reader; it is not just another short story anymore. By using phrases such as "family video", "video camera", and "family car" (52), the reader is reminded of memories as a child, and playing with a video camera for the first time. It seems that children are so interested in the concept of catching something on film. This reminiscing keeps the reader focused on and engaged in what is going to happen next.

As the narrator watches the clip on the news, it is almost impossible for him to look away. For something so dreadful as watching a murder on national television, the narrator is weirdly intrigued. DeLillo even mentions something about the narrator calling his wife over, demanding that she see the clip too. Is it cruel for someone to be this interested in another person's suffering and eventual death? It all goes back to the fact that we don't realize how fast our lives can end. The narrator's reasons are summarized in this passage: "Seeing someone at the moment he dies, dying unexpectedly. This is reason alone to stay fixed to the screen. It is instructional, watching a man shot dead as he drives along on a sunny day. It demonstrates an elemental truth, that every breath you take has two possible endings." (55). Although the narrator does not personally know the victim being murdered, he is still deeply affected from watching the clip. The fact that the murder was so unexpected in the clip definitely caught the viewer's attention and made him think twice about what had just happened. In "Videotape", DeLillo also does a great job of using suspense to keep the reader interested. The mood of the story changes drastically at two different times: when it switches from talking about the innocent videotaping by the girl to talking about a crime that happens, and when it switches from talking about the crime to the man being shot and instantly dying. These two mood changes definitely help keep the reader engaged in the story by keeping the reader on the edge of his/her seat.

What people tend not to realize is that once something is filmed, it is captured forever. This gives people the chance to "see things twice" (52). Immediately, the victim being filmed is stripped of all privacy. Whether you know you are being filmed or not, you lose all privacy. Although the driver of the dodge clearly knew he was being filmed, he had no idea that shortly after, his death would be caught on tape. The story opens with an innocent depiction of children discovering how to work a video camera. It is pointed out that children catch the most random things on camera by accident while playing with them. Shortly after this type of innocence is described, the story has a quick mood change from when the man in the dodge is waving back to the little girl to the moment he is shot in the head and drives off the road. Although children can be described as innocent when operating a video camera, the narrator portrays these same children as annoying and invasive. As mentioned before, loss of privacy always comes with being filmed. In this story, the only character with privacy seems to be the little girl because her name is not mentioned. The reason for this is explained in a short passage: "It is the kid's own privacy that is being protected here. She is twelve years old and her name is being withheld even though she is neither the victim nor the perpetrator of the crime but only the means of recording it." (52). Since the little girl had no idea what was about to happen when she was filming, she is not guilty and therefore, she remains unnamed.

At first glance, "Videotape" by Don DeLillo might look like just another short story. But after doing a close reading, I realized that it is much more than that. In "Videotape", DeLillo focused on three key points: how short life can be, the unexpected murder caught on video, and the privacy of the victim being filmed. By analyzing his writing techniques choice of words, I saw that something as short as this story can have an impact on somebody for the rest of his or her life. In this day and age, we tend to forget just how short life is, and how fast it can be taken away from you. DeLillo depicted this idea perfectly by making the reader feel like he/she was watching the news clip with the narrator. The shocking changes of mood kept the reader engaged and left you wondering what was going to happen next. "Videotape" definitely affects the readers by making them think twice about how short life truly is.


