Don Delillo Videotape

A major uncertainty in life is knowing the exact moment when you’ll take your last breath on earth, whether it is on your terms or not. Don DeLillo’s “Videotape” (1994) focuses on a videotape that is at times narrated by the man viewing it at home. The tape begins with a young girl who is sitting in the backseat of her parent’s car. She is shown filming a man that is driving behind them in a vehicle produced by Dodge. As it continues the man is shown waving at the young girl who is filming him. At this point the man watching the tape, who has been anticipating this moment, is trying to get the attention of his wife to watch the climax of the tape. Out of the blue, as the tape continues, the man is then seen shot in the head by someone out of

From description that was given in the story the reader can assume the story takes place in a highway, although this assumption is confirmed by the killer’s name, the Texas Highway Killer. While the man was murdered in what can be presumed as a common location, in this case a highway, it was not the Texas Highway Killer’s intention to make it seem as a “commonplace” murder. In his article, McGowan states that, “the wide publication of this tape has the effect of transforming the killing into a commonplace occurrence…” (130). To elaborate, the constant streaming of the videotape on the news was what leads to the misconception of the murder. Due to this misconception, a sense of fear is put into people about their well-being when they are carrying on with their activities in public places. Now, in relation to the man’s murder DeLillo writes that the scene, “demonstrates an elemental truth, that every breath you take has two possible endings” (78). While this elemental truth is generally known, many people often overlook the realization of how easily someone is able to take away another’s life in an instant. With that being said, our final day living is uncertain, and the possibility that our final day could be shortened through actions that happen around us regardless of the