At some point in everyone's lives we face a loss of innocence. Depending on the person, the onset can be very early or much later. In the story Videotape by Dan DeLillo, a young girl faces this loss of innocence at an unexpected time. The repetition that the narrator uses draws us into the story as if we are apart if it too, almost creating a sense that we are losing our own innocence at the same time as the young girl videotaping. In addition to the repetition, the usage of present tense throughout the whole thing creates a sense that this story keeps going on and everyone is there to witness it. The calm and informal way this story is presented makes it easier for the audience to relate to the young girl's situation.  All the elements used by the author such as repetition, verbal tense and story tone contribute to this bigger theme at hand of the young girl losing her innocence as we are there to experience it with her. 

The repetition of "you" is an interesting choice because it is in second person, which isn't common for a narrative tale. The fact that the narrator uses you is important because it makes it seem like we, the readers, are apart of the story too and are witnesses to this terrible crime. This usage also forces us to relate more closely to the examples being presented, " ...you know about holidays and family celebrations and how somebody shows up with a camcorder" (54), which almost all of us can relate too, or even for modern terms capturing video even on a cellphone. The narrator wants us to become one with this story, so we can understand how the video taper felt capturing this moment. It is captivating, but truly disturbing. " You don't usually call your wife over to the TV set" (54), this shows how we how we have to be sucked into this because of its elements of suspense. We experience the girl's loss of innocence right along with her. 

"They" is also a repeated word throughout this narration of events. Using "they" pulls not just the girl, but the family into this situation also. Even though they weren't the ones looking through the camera lens, the family faced their own trauma that day too. It is like the whole family experienced a loss of innocence together. Also, "they" is used to generalize all children, "They break every trust, spy out the undefended space, catching Mom coming out of the bathroom..." (52). This quote basically generalizes all children before their loss of innocence; they are just curious and willing to explore anything. Even the blandest subjects may attract a young child's attention. 

Unusual words such as "jolt" and jostle" are used a lot throughout this narration also. These words stand out and match the unusual, unexpected situation. " The tape has this jostled sort of noneventness that marks the family product" (52), jostled is good because it describes the event as completely random and unplanned, so the videotape reflects that and also reflects the random trauma the young girl faces. 

The fact that this is written in present tense is very important. This video doesn't end, it keeps going, and someone could play it again and again as if it had meant to be filmed, "This is a crime designed for random taping and immediate playing" (54). This murder keeps going on when the video is played, it doesn't have to be something of the past. The innocence of this child's life is head on with the murder of the man in the car behind her, " He is shot, headshot, and the camera reacts, the child reacts...there is a jolting movement, but she keeps taping" (54).  Live narration of the video is being told to us as if we are the people video taping it. The young girl can't seem to be able to stop taping this moment, even though it is gruesome. Her loss of innocence is inevitable because the situation draws in any human beings attention. 

The tone of the piece is important; the way it is delivered to us is very calm. Although, this situation is the least but from serene, the way the narrator tells it makes it seem very casual which allows the readers to become more closely related to this story. The way it is told, ties into the whole loss of innocence vs. murder and death theme. We can more closely relate to the girl. 

Loss of innocence is a common theme in literature, in this narrative tale; loss of innocence comes from witnessing the murder a man. The young girl cannot take back what she saw through the camera lens, and is therefore not an innocent, naive child anymore. Repetition is flowing throughout this whole story, words such as "you" and "they" are used multiple times in every paragraph to grasp the reader and throw them into the place of the young girl video taping this horrifying event.  Also, the present tense makes the story an ongoing event, something that can be replayed again and again because it was caught on tape. Lastly, the tone of this piece was important the story because it presents it in a casual way, but emphasizing how upsetting and horrific this situation was. All of these help convey this theme of loss of innocence, which effects every single person at some point in their lifetime. 


