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
Michael calls Astrid to say he has to work late just as Cassian is being dressed. Astrid tries not to give away that she knows he’s cheating, but he’s canceled every family dinner over the last few months. She tries to tempt Michael—Ah Ma’s tan hua flowers are blooming and she’s throwing a little party—but Michael declines. The small gatherings always turn out to be huge, with important people. He declines Astrid’s offer to ask the cook to get something ready for him, and they hang up. Michael used to be so gentle and kind—what happened? Still, Astrid is relieved to have confirmed that Michael is cheating. She’s focusing on the bigger picture—that is, until she thinks too much about it and starts getting anxious and upset.
Astrid continues to fixate on Michael’s infidelity while also refusing to be forthright about it with Michael. His reasoning for declining this invitation reveals again that he’s struggling to feel at home and welcome in Astrid’s ultrawealthy circle—a party isn’t fun or relaxing for him when it’s so big, and when “important people” show up. Keep in mind that Astrid is likely attending “Friday night dinner,” which is where Rachel is going tonight. This event seems, once again, that it’s going to be way more involved than Rachel expected, highlighting how different Nick’s expectations and social circle are from Rachel’s.
Themes
Astrid decides to change her clothes and not let Michael ruin her night. She moves racks of clothes out of the spare bedroom (which functions as her overflow closet) to peruse her options. Her and Michael’s apartment is too small, and most of her friends would be horrified by her living conditions. It’s a 2,000-square-foot, three-bed, two-and-a-half-bath condo with a private balcony, but Astrid grew up in “palatial surroundings.” Harry Leong had planned to commission a house for his daughter and son-in-law when they got married, but Michael insisted on living somewhere he could afford. Michael finally compromised and allowed Astrid and Harry to match his down payment to buy this condo, which kept them out of government-subsidized housing. It occurs to Astrid that she could’ve bought a house three times the size of the condo with the money she spent on the clothes in this room.
Having money and using it to buy fun, luxurious things are clearly important to Astrid. She seems to get a lot of joy out of her couture clothes, and the narration notes that she’s also used to having room to spread out wherever she lives. So, it’s again curious that she agreed to live in such a small condo, seemingly just to make Michael happy. While it’s possible to see it as a generous sacrifice on her part, it’s clearly not making her—or, for that matter, Michael—happy. Her money, in other words, is poisoning her marriage to Michael, even as she tries to pretend this isn’t what’s happening.
Themes
Michael doesn’t know it, but Harry and Felicity Leong buy houses for their kids like the houses are nothing. Astrid had many properties by the time she married, in Singapore and abroad (recently, Felicity “pick[ed] up” a penthouse in Shanghai in which the mirrors log outfits). Still, Astrid knows that none of the properties are really hers until her parents pass, even if she gets to keep the income those properties earn. No matter how many couture dresses she buys, her accounts keep going up. Reminding herself of this, Astrid decides to wear some of her new “Paris treats” and her new earrings, and she asks Cassian’s nanny to change his clothes to match.
In another narrative jab toward Eddie, Felicity seems to have purchased a penthouse in the same building as Leo Ming—which, if Eddie were to find out about it, would no doubt enrage him. Unlike Eddie, though, Astrid has no reason to hope her parents die so she can inherit all their assets, as she’s already benefiting financially from their holdings. The Leongs may simply have instilled in Astrid a healthier relationship to money.
Themes
