Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Crazy Rich Asians, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Wealth and Absurdity
Marriage and Money
Family vs. Individuality
Chinese vs. Western Culture
Summary
Analysis
When Astrid and Michael enter the formal dining room at the Colonial Club (dressed in an orange flapper dress and a crisp suit respectively), the Leong’s guest Mavis Oon remarks on “the golden couple.” Astrid apologizes for being late as Mavis pats Astrid’s cheeks and gushes over her. Astrid’s father Harry Leong, meanwhile, beckons to Michael, hands him a MacBook Air, and curtly tells Michael the Wi-Fi is broken. As Michael returns to his seat, Astrid’s brother Henry asks Michael to stop by over the weekend to repair his son’s Xbox. Astrid’s siblings tell Mavis that Michael is “good with gadgets,” and Astrid explains that he was in the military and in charge of ballistics. Smiling tightly, Michael remembers wishing he could eat here as a teenager. Now he has to endure five hours of insufferable food and conversation, and he wishes he were anywhere else.
The way that Astrid’s family treats Michael is shocking in its unthinking cruelty: Michael is certainly more than his ability to troubleshoot internet connections and gaming systems, and yet, that seems to be all that Astrid’s family talks to him about. And as the narrator dips into Michael’s perspective, readers learn how wildly unhappy he is about being treated like tech support and forced to suffer through a dinner he doesn’t want to attend. Thus, it’s interesting that Mavis refers to Astrid and Michael as “the golden couple”—it drives home that nobody outside of Astrid and Michael have any idea how strained their marriage is.
Themes
Astrid sees Michael’s expression and wonders if he wishes he was somewhere else—or with someone else. She’s been trying to figure out what Michael is up to, calling him at random times and sneakily checking his texts. She had success for the first time today, when she found a receipt from the fanciest French restaurant in Hong Kong in his wallet. It was obviously for dinner for two. Normally, Michael would refuse to eat someplace like that, and his company wouldn’t fund such a meal. Astrid imagines his romantic dinner with his lover and wants to shove the receipt in his face—but she knows it’s better to forget about it. It’s essential to preserve their “picture-perfect life.”
Though Astrid fully understands Michael isn’t happy here, it’s odd that she thinks it’s just because he’s missing his mistress; that is, she seems to not realize how hurtful it is that her dad and brother treat Michael rather dismissively. So, Michael may be cheating, and that’s certainly causing Astrid grief, but her firm belief that she has to make their life look “picture-perfect” means that she’s unwilling to address any of their problems.
Themes
