Human nature is cruel and drawn to things that are real, it doesn't matter how horrific it is. These real life moments captivate peoples mind and leaves people wanting to see it over and over again. In the short story, DeLillo brings out the meaning he is trying to get interpreted by his excellent use of vivid imagery, tone of the speaker and keys words to help bring out just how cruel human nature can be.  

Don DeLillo creates multiple tones throughout the story to show the extremeness of a murder being recorded by a little girl.  As the story opens there is an unreal level of suspense as the girl is recording a random driver and as the reader they know the story is about to take a crazy turn: "But there is also an element of suspenses. You keep on looking not because you know something is going to happen- of course you now something is going to happen and you do look for that reason, but you might also be looking if you came across the footage for the first time ... " (DeLillo, pg 60).  This suspense keeps the viewer glued to the tv wanting to see what twist it takes: "You say, Janet, hurry up, this is where it happens" (61).   As the video unfolds the tone switches to that of horror when viewers see a murder happen to a random driver being recorded by a 12 year old innocent girl: "She wandered into it. The girl got lost and wandered clear-eyed into horror" (61).  During all this there is an underlying tone of realness. The video is so real which entices the people watches to keep watching. Its makes it that much scarier and evil: "The tape is surreal ...  The tape has a searing realness" ( 61).  All these different tones are the mixed feelings people are having as they are watching this surreal video. They are completely encompassed by this tragedy and have all these thoughts running through there head, but they cannot do anything to pull themselves away from the tape. All these tones are getting to what the writer wants the meaning of the text to be; that human nature is cruel and they are captivated by things that are so real they cannot be reproduced by any filmmaker or tv show. The suspense and realness of the videotape makes people even more glued to the tv even though they are watching a murder of an innocent person. 

Since the story is about a videotape, the imagery DeLillo can create is amazing. As the girl starts out the video she focuses on the guy showing what he looks likes: "It shows a man in his forties wearing a pale shirt open at the throat, the image washed by reflections and sunlight, with many jostled moments" (60).  The driver is portrayed as an average man that is driving down the road. This scary thought makes you think that anyone can be killed at any second: "It demonstrates an elemental truth, that every breath you take has two possible endings" (63).  You think everything is normal as the video goes on and the driver calmly waves to the young girl: " He sees the girl and waves briefly ... - an underplayed reaction that makes you like him" (60).  The driver has no idea what is about to hit him which is scary for everyone who is watching because they have to think this is the risk everyone takes just waking up.  After he is shot, the tape doesn't show any blood which leaves it up to imagination ...  The narrators interpretation is not a pleasant image to say the least: "You don't see the blood, which is probably trickling being his ear and down the back of his neck" (60). This is a persons imagination thinking what the dead body looks like, which shows just how cruel, twisted and dark human nature can make us think.  

Word choice in a sentence can change the way a reader interprets the work.  In particular there is two uses of the word shot which portrays cameras and guns as the same negative thing: "They will shoot you sitting on the pot if they can manage a suitable vantage" (60).  This is talking about cameras and how people use them to capture things if they get a good view.  Then when the videotape is on tv, people are watching it just waiting for the innocent person to be shot: "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" (61).  No one ever thinks of cameras as a bad thing, but this correlation between the camera and the gun made by word choice shows the camera can be used just as negative as a gun.  Cameras capture bad things done by guns so in a way they are "shooting" the same thing.  This word choice is key for the understanding of the work because it ties the connection between cameras and guns which is a major point DeLillo is tying to make in the short story.

Human nature is cruel ...  they are so intrigued by anything that is so real it cannot be reproduced by a planned out script.  DeLillo magnifies this by his use of word choice, tone of the scenes and the vivid imagery to show how the realness of a kid capturing a murder can catch the eye of so many people.  This realness captures humans and scares them at the same time, but they cannot turn away: "The horror freezes your soul but this doesn't mean that you want them to stop" (63).

