Malls are the one place where society can go to relax, socialize, and encounter the culture of today's America. In the article "Shopping for American Culture", James J. Farrell states that the overall purpose of shopping malls is to emphasize the culture of today's American society. In "Enclosed. Encyclopedic. Endured: One Week at the Mall of America", David Guterson accentuates how malls are really just vast tourist attractions, drawing in vulnerable and susceptible souls in search of a meaningless sale. Addressing the issue of malls, Gutterson and Farrell seemingly take highly contrasting opinions on the subject, but even so, their opposing ideas converge on a number of analogous concepts.

Farrell begins his article by stating how much America, as a society, takes shopping malls for granted. He then unravels exactly how much of our American culture is embedded into the mall experience. Farrell also believes that malls are...