In the short story, Videotape, multiple interpretations can be pulled from the striking text by Don DeLillo. The interpretations and concepts of the story appear to intertwine with each other to produce important meanings. Throughout the text, DeLillo utilizes repetition and vivid imagery to create his meaning. In Videotape, DeLillo emphasizes the fact that life can change in a single second, and also the fact that videotapes became a prominent human tool in today's society.

It is pretty incredible how fast a person's life can change. DeLillo especially highlights this in the text when he describes the girl exploring a videotape for fun, for it is her first time using one. She had no idea what was about to happen. "It is a homicide recorded by a child who thought she was doing doing something simple and maybe halfway clever, shooting some tape of a man in his car" (DeLillo 60). As the man is shot, the tape and the girl become instantly famous. The girl's life is changed by experiencing the gruesome murder, and also by becoming famous as the the "Video Kid". The striking imagery and suspense of the whole scene pulls the reader into the interpretation of the text by creating a feeling of, "Wow, I can't believe how fast that happened." This is especially apparent when DeLillo writes, "Of course if she had panned to another car, the right car the precise time, she would have caught the gunman as he fired" (DeLillo 61). This line comes up very suddenly in the story, which means DeLillo is attempting to heavily emphasize the point that life can be taken in an instant. Of course not only the little girl's life is changed, but also the man's as he is sadly shot to his death.

The videotape seems to be one of the most important inventions of all time, as pointed out by DeLillo. The videotape made things seem real, especially the murder described in the story. "It is innocent, it is aimless, it is determined, it is real" (DeLillo 60). It is not some murder acted out in a movie scene. "You want your wife to see it because it is real this time, not fancy movie violence-the realness beneath the layers of cosmetic perception" (DeLillo 62). It is something completely realistic, which is why the videotape started to become a major part of human life, as DeLillo points out in the text. One line that clearly supports this: "There's something about the nature of the tape, the grain of the image, the sputtering black and white tones, the starkness-you think this is more real, truer to life than anything around you" (DeLillo 60). The realism of the videotape also brings out the tension of the story, as seen when the man is watching the tape on his TV. "But there's a certain urgency here. You want her to see how it looks. The tape has been running forever and now the thing is finally going to happen and you want her to be here when he's shot" (DeLillo 61). The sense of urgency as the man brings his wife to the TV again highlights the anticipation, but also shows how human life was changed by the videotape. This intertwines with the meaning that life can change in an instant, for human life definitely changed rapidly with the invention of the videotape. The videotape seems to be a new sensation in the story, which is based in the 1970s-1990s. Obviously videotape had been used before then, but this story reiterates the importance of it in this time period. 

When it comes to literary devices, DeLillo exemplifies vivid imagery and clever repetition. In the story, DeLillo uses the word "jostled" many times throughout the text to describe the tape. Jostled refers to pushing, shoving, or competitive behavior, so DeLillo utilizes the term to show the realness of the tape. This puts the reader into the little girl's shoes as she is filming the tape, drawing them in to the action of the story. "The tape has the jostled sort of noneventness that marks the family product" (DeLillo 60). The term "jolted" is also used a few times in the story to describe the mans head as he is shot, and also to describe the girl's reaction to the scene. The repetition of the word also helps to interpret the realism of the tape, for the girl jolts when reacting to the jolting movement of the man. Again, this puts emphasis on the realism of the tape as a recurring theme in the story. Imagery is apparent in just about every paragraph in the story, as DeLillo uses it to increase the adrenaline of the scene. "You don't see the blood, which is probably trickling behind his ear and down the back of his neck. The way his head is twisted away from the door, the twist of the head gives you only a partial profile, and it's the wrong side" (DeLillo 62). This line stuck out as a use of imagery, as it describes the man right after he is shot, which pulls the reader ever more closely into the story. DeLillo also increases the intensity of the story by writing in short paragraphs. This increases the pace, which speeds the readers heart rate up when reading the story. DeLillo utilizes these literary devices and certain paragraph structures to drag the reader into the story, which in turn gets the reader to realize that life can change in a single second. 

Overall, DeLillo clearly utilizes imagery and repetition in the text to get his meaning across. Theses devices attach the reader to the story, as if they were there, to create feeling and meaning behind the major themes of the text. The realism of the tape helps the reader to understand the realistic events of human life, which in turn aids them in realizing that life can change so quickly in an instant. The importance of the videotape also comes into play here, for if it wasn't for it, humans would not be able to understand the reality of human life. For, as DeLillo says about the videotape, "It demonstrates an elemental truth, that every breath you take has two possible endings" (DeLillo 63).

