What is the theme of "Shopping" by Joyce Carol Oates?

"Shopping" highlights relationships between mother and
daughter, and demonstrates how such relationships may be deeply strained, even when the
mother and daughter are on a shopping excursion at the mall—a characteristically
American activity. Reading the story is both interesting to both sexes. Women will be
naturally interested in the two women, and the men are not so far away from family life
that they will not also be interested in the alienation that the story illustrates. This
story by Joyce Carol Oates highlights the unique bonds that a parent-child relationship
contains, and though similar to other works of literature, this contemporary setting
modernizes the ages old problems in dealing with children from a parent's
perspective.