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
Nick is grading term papers when Rachel casually asks what the arrangements will be at his parents’ house. Will they share a room or not? Nick “suppose[s]” they’ll share, which makes Rachel visibly stressed. He assures her his parents don’t worry about sharing rooms and then marvels at how beautiful his girlfriend is. She’s so different from the girls he grew up with. As he watches her, he can tell she’s worried, but about what? She’s been asking lots of questions since he invited her to Singapore and she’s overthinking everything. Nick realizes now that Astrid, his cousin and his closest female confidant, was right.
Rachel is different from the girls Nick grew up with for seemingly one reason: she’s an upper-middle-class American, not an upper-crust Singaporean. That is, she grew up with a very different relationship to money. Nick seems to sense that he should give Rachel some idea of what she’s going to find, but he also reads as oblivious. Rachel doesn’t know it, but she has good reason to be worried—the chapter about Eleanor made that pretty clear. Nick may be severely underestimating his mother.
Themes
A week ago, Nick called Astrid and shared he was thinking about inviting Rachel to Singapore. Astrid pointed out that this would escalate things dramatically: Nick has never brought a girl home before, and he and Rachel have been dating for nearly two years. Even if Nick doesn’t want to think about marriage, Rachel certainly is. Sighing, Nick said he just wanted to introduce Rachel to his world and see how she reacts to “it,” which Astrid suggested means their family. Astrid could tell Nick has no idea what he’d be getting himself and Rachel into—you can’t just bring a random girl home. Astrid carefully said she was concerned how others would handle Rachel’s arrival. All of Singapore will know about Rachel the minute she steps off the plane.
Astrid reveals that Nick is, indeed, extremely oblivious about what his family is like and what it means for someone like Rachel to show up as Nick’s guest. But on some level, Nick shows he knows this is going to be a big shock for Rachel—he wants to gauge her reaction to his family, as though he wants Rachel to audition for a closer, more important role in his life (such as his wife). Still, Astrid cautions that Nick can’t escape his celebrity as he does this, and that the pressure and publicity will be shocking for Rachel.
Themes
Just then, a police siren screamed and drowned out Astrid’s voice. She told Nick she’s in Paris; it’s her annual spring trip to be fitted for couture garments. Nick remembered that, per Astrid, it’s an “uninspiring” season and she’s buying only 12 pieces—which still cost over a million euros. After some good natured banter, they returned to the subject of Rachel coming to Singapore. Astrid reminded Nick how hard it was for Michael, her husband, when they went public with their relationship—five years later, he’s still not used to the “brutal” attention. Nick was listening to Astrid, but he knew it was time to go public with Rachel. Astrid asked how much Rachel knows about their family. Nick said Rachel has only met Astrid and thinks Astrid has great fashion sense and is spoiled. Very seriously, Astrid told Nick to prepare Rachel.
The tone as Nick remembers Astrid only buying 12 “uninspiring” couture pieces this season suggests that he perhaps disapproves. Even Nick, it seems, finds this absurd. However, Astrid brings the conversation back around and tries to get Nick to see that bringing someone into the family who doesn’t know exactly what they’re getting into is harder than Nick realizes. And Rachel, this passage shows, has no idea what she’s getting into. Astrid, it seems, wears mostly couture clothes from Paris. But Rachel can’t identify the clothes as such, and so she has no idea that she’s looking at a wildly wealthy woman. Clothes, in this sense, symbolize Astrid’s wealth and Rachel’s naivety.
Themes
