The Mall of America Destroying Life Long Values with Materialism free essay sample

Through his piece â€Å"Enclosed. Encyclopedic. Endured: the Mall of America. † David Guterson shares his experience of the Mall of America as it opened and its effects of the American culture. From sharing statistics about the amount of jobs available, the number of parking spots, or how much cash is dispersed each week from just the ATMs; Guterson allows readers to feel the massive scale of the mall. He shares stories of the people he met and his own views on the mall, and what it says about America and its people’s values. Guterson makes it clear that Americans have become too absorbed with the thoughts of materialistic belongings; and a mall, such as the Mall of America, only makes those thoughts that much worse and destroys the people’s values. Although the points Guterson makes about the crumbling values and presently true and I agree that materialism is a horrible quality for a person to have, the mall in itself is not a bad place. It brings joy to many people and not just through ways of materialism and buying everything your heart desires, but for the sheer pleasure of entertainment. When young children go to the mall with their parents and attend Camp Snoopy or go to LEGOLAND; that is not materialistic in the slightest. All in the entire mall is not the horrible place that Guterson makes it out to be. The mall and its materialistic image have become a major highlight of American society. By allowing mall goers to share their experiences, this is fairly evident. Two women Guterson meets at a restaurant explain how they â€Å"have shopping addictions and live at the mall† (105). These women explain how they feel sorry for other malls because they are so â€Å"small and boring†, as if nothing can compare to the Mall of America. These women are right because the mall is so vast and extravagant nothing else can compare to it; and again they are right because what other malls can say that they have and indoor amusement park?! He later goes to say how the mall is not just a marketplace but rather a tourist attraction, attracting crowds from all over. The mall’s general manager, John Wheeler, is quoted saying that â€Å"I believe we can make The Mall of American stand for all of America. † The mall was said to be greater, and by 1996 was expected to have more visitors than Disneyland. This right here proves that the mall is not a bad thing; have you ever heard a person say that Disneyland corrupted them or destroyed what they believe in? No I don’t think so! So then if the mall is just as great as, or even greater than, Disney it couldn’t possibly be bad. All the more proof that the mall is not a bad place, Guterson talks to the old gentleman, Chuck Brand, who just sits at the mall, outside Camp Snoopy, every day from 10:00 am until his wife picks him up at six. â€Å"I don’t get hassled for hanging out, not shopping. Because the deal is, when you’re seventy-two, man, you’re just about all done shopping† (110). Chuck shows that the mall is so much more than just a place for people to go shopping. That you can just relax, and enjoy the atmosphere. As well, Chuck is right 72 you are pretty much done shopping, which counter acts Guterson’s point of the mall being materialistic. So with all the â€Å"old men†, like Chuck, along with all the little children that absorb themselves in the overwhelming essence of the mall there is no way that it is only a materialistic environment. The Mall of America had become as powerful as a church for some, for example on Valentine’s Day, 1993, â€Å"ninety-two couples were married en masse in a ceremony at the Mall of America† (113). Although church services were being held in the mall some were afraid that it may trivialize religion. According to Reverend Delton Krueger, President of the Mall Area Religious Council, â€Å"A good many of people in churches, feel a lot of the trouble in the world is caused by materialism† (113). I find this hard to believe, some people sure put a lot of stake into their shopping, but it’s hard to find people that would take it to the extent to think that their items and the money they spend would take over their religious views, that just seems a little to unrealistic. Krueger and Guterson are sharing the idea that people are becoming so involved in their shopping and the materialistic things that they are revering these items as form a â€Å"God†. They are forgetting the values that their parents had taught them all their life by making them go to Sunday school, and church every week; to them materialism is â€Å"GOD† they worship who have the best stuff. Still though many thought the trouble lied elsewhere, and with this people and companies around the world planned to build malls exceeding the Mall of America. All it is just a race to see who can have the most immense bizarre to satisfy the most people. As it all becomes more extreme, Americans, and the world in general, are losing all they believe in. It’s all becoming about who has the best stuff, or from the perspective of a teenage girl, who has the cutest clothes. From its vast security systems, to the indoor theme park, and over 520 stores the mall is like a city within itself; closed off from the rest of the world. Guterson writes that the quality and impressiveness of the mall is not comparable to any other. The mall is â€Å"the best of the best† and people visit it because of its modernism. The modernism of the mall is displayed through features like an arcade, the gardens, trees and flowers. The argument of the essay is reasonable in the way people go to spend in the mall. It is true that people are sometimes materialistic. But not all is bad, the mall is fun for children and adults, people of all ages. It doesn’t destroy their life long values but rather allows for sheer enjoyment. The mall is only a past time and nothing more. Yes, it is a representation of American life but not in a demeaning way. Works Cited Guterson, David. â€Å"Enclosed. Encyclopedic. Endured: The Mall of America† The Norton Reader. Eds. Linda Peterson, et al. Shorter 13th ed. New York: Norton, 2011. 102-114. Print.