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
Philip is fishing off the dock that stretches from his waterfront lawn when his wife, Eleanor, calls. She’s hysterical, as the private investigator she hired just got her the details on Rachel Chu (she has to remind Philip that Rachel is Nick’s secret girlfriend). Philip really doesn’t want to have this conversation, but Eleanor persists: Rachel isn’t a Taipei Plastics Chu. She’s not even American-born Chinese: she was born in Mainland China and her mother took her to the U.S. when she was an infant. There’s no record of a father, so her mother must be divorced. Rachel’s family are, in other words, “PEASANTS!”, and Rachel is a “gold digger.” Philip insists he doesn’t care what people will think of Rachel, and who cares if Nick proposes? This kind of hysteria is exactly why he spends his time in Australia.
Philip is just as wildly wealthy and privileged as his wife—he takes this call from his waterfront lawn in Australia, after all. And yet, Philip seems far more down-to-earth than Eleanor, which makes Eleanor seem even more rabid in comparison. It’s humorous when Eleanor lays out her logic that concludes that Rachel is a “PEASANT[],” but it’s also ominous and heartless. Essentially, Eleanor concludes that because Rachel is a middle-class Chinese immigrant who grew up in America, her whole goal must be to steal Nick’s fortune. Eleanor seems, like Eddie, to be really intent on protecting and amassing wealth—and so such a person, it seems, cannot be allowed into the family.
Themes
At the next Bible study luncheon, as Carol’s friends organize her black pearls by color grade, Eleanor laments that Nick is going to stay with “that girl” in a hotel. Nadine is privately thrilled that something might take the Youngs down a peg, so she suggests that maybe Nick and Rachel already eloped. Daisy laments that kids never behave, and the women discuss how ABC women are all intent on “sink[ing] their claws into our men” and stealing their fortunes. Carol notes that at least Nick is “a good boy,” unlike her son Bernard.
That Carol has enough black pearls to organize by color is absurd, and asking her friends to do it may be a way of showing off. Indeed, it seems like the women are friends, but they’re also rivals—Nadine, at least, seems to be overtly trying to pester Eleanor and make Eleanor even more anxious. And the lament that American-born Chinese women are trying to steal Singaporean fortunes confirms that, as families like these see it, the whole point of family is to consolidate and protect wealth. Letting in “outsiders” like Rachel is a liability.
Themes
Lorena has a bombshell for Eleanor: her investigation into Rachel turned up someone with “very valuable” intel on Rachel and a source in Shenzhen. The women decide to go to Shenzhen next week, when Rachel is supposed to arrive: that way, Eleanor won’t have to see the girl, they can meet this source, and they can shop and visit spas. They can even borrow Carol’s plane.
Recall that Eleanor already hired a private investigator to look into Rachel. That she and Lorena are doing this reinforces again that they can’t let just anyone into the family. All possible spouses will be heavily vetted, even if the vetting process entails invading Rachel’s privacy. Eleanor and her friends see Rachel as subhuman, though, and thus have no thought for how their prying could offend or hurt, depending on what they find.
Themes
