In his short story, "Videotape", Don DeLillo tells the story of a young girl videotaping a man who gets shot while driving down the road, and a man watching the video who can't seem to draw himself away from it. The story surrounds the universal truth that life can end in the blink of an eye. DeLillo uses many different elements throughout the story to show that by even just watching something on video, it can have a big impact on us and our emotions. Even if you may not experience it first hand, videos allow us to feel as though we have. Repetition, characters, plot, point of view and theme all help to convey this idea.

DeLillo's story is told from second person point of view which casts the reader into the role of the man watching the video on TV. By doing this he puts the reader into the story and makes them feel as if they are experiencing it as well. He does this in order to connect the reader to their feelings and emotions. His repetition of "you" throughout the story also serves as a way to help connect the readers. He says "And maybe you're being a little aggressive here, practically forcing your wife to watch. Why? What are you telling her? Like I'm going to ruin your day out of ordinary spite. Or a big statement? Like this is the risk of existing. Either way you're rubbing her face in this tape and you don't know why." By doing this it makes it seem as if the narrator is talking to the reader. The narrator continuously tries to get his wife to come watch the video with him. He does this because he needs someone else to experience this with him. He needs someone who will feel the same way that he's feeling, and to know that other people will be impacted by this like he has. 

Character and plot are also both very important elements of this story. There are three main characters throughout the story. The girl who is videotaping, the man who is killed, and the man who is watching the video. The fact that the girl videotaping is so young, makes the story much more dramatic. The narrator says, "It is the kids 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 on the means of recording it." The fact that this girl is so young, and had to experience something as horrible as she did, pulls at the readers emotions. We also know nothing about the man who was shot besides that "He is bald up the middle of his head, a nice guy in his forties whose whole life seems to open to the handheld camera." We don't get to learn much about him since he dies so suddenly. We don't know much about the man watching the video either, except that he is continuously replaying it and practically forcing his wife to come watch it with him. However, we do know that the video has impacted him emotionally. The plot throughout the story is very simple, which makes it that much more shocking. DeLillo's use of foreshadowing at the beginning of the story allows the readers to know that something is going to happen in the story, but they don't know when. The narrator says, "It shows a man in a sport shirt at the wheel of his car. There is nothing else to see. The car approaches briefly, then falls back.", "There is no accompaniment of any kind. It is very stripped." It seems as if we are reading all about the girl videotaping, and then all of a sudden the man is shot. Because the reader doesn't expect it to happen so instantly, it makes it that much more shocking. 

There are two major themes that are evident throughout this story. The first being that life can end so unexpectedly and completely without warning. It helps the readers to realize how something as tragic as this, can happen to anyone. The narrator can't seem to take himself away from the TV because of how connected he becomes to the video. He says, "Seeing someone at the moment he dies, dying unexpectedly. This is a 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." By watching this video over and over again and realizing the reality of it, the narrator has become so connected to it and invested his emotions into it. The second theme that is present in this story is that people find comfort in sharing the same feelings with others. People need validation in their feelings to know that they're not alone. That's why the narrator forces his wife to come watch the video with him, because he wants to share with her the same emotions that he's feeling. He wants her to experience the same real terror and shock that he experienced when watching this video. 

Although this is a very simple story, it has a much deeper meaning behind it. DeLillo's purpose of writing this piece was to get the readers to connect with the story and to feel like they were experiencing it with the narrator. By connecting the story to a theme that is so real and relevant, it makes it that much easier for the reader to understand it. It's important that we don't take like for granted because you never know what can happen. Live every day like it could be your last and appreciate the things and people that have been given to you. 


