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
As Araminta’s impeccably dressed and made-up friends chat about multimillion-dollar apartments and expensive purses, Rachel realizes this bachelorette isn’t going to be a normal party. Araminta arrives in a gold jumpsuit and introduces Rachel to the other girls as Nick’s date—the other girls stare. Then, Araminta announces they’re going to her mother’s private island resort in Indonesia. Seemingly moments later, everyone has crowded onto a customized plane (Araminta’s mom had it repainted three times to get the perfect shade of white).
This party will be Rachel’s first Singaporean experience without Nick or Peik Lin to guide her, and she realizes quickly that she’s out of her depth. The staring when girls find out she’s Nick’s date doesn’t bode well: it suggests that the girls see Rachel as a threat, if Colin and Oliver are right and lots of girls want to marry Nick. On another note, it's absurd and humorous that Araminta’s mom insisted on three coats of paint for the perfect white, especially since it’s framed as a perfectly normal thing for a person to want.
Themes
Rachel wanders down the plane and comes upon girls talking about her—they say her family is supposed to be really rich, but her clothes are terrible. However, Rachel is too busy staring at the expensive furnishings to notice. She hears other girls talking about having sex with the Italian flight attendants and, shocked, she buckles in for takeoff. The girl seated next to Rachel says she knows Rachel’s cousin Vivian and seems surprised when Rachel says she’s not a Taipei Plastics Chu—Rachel asks who those Chus are. The girl leaves to tell her friends in another room, and Francesca Shaw, Nadine Shaw’s daughter, says she has even more juicy intel on Rachel.
This passage begins by setting the stage: readers know the other girls at the party are out for Rachel’s blood, but Rachel is totally unaware. Instead, she’s just overwhelmed to find herself on a private plane. Rachel also seems to not realize the girl she sits next to is running off to laugh at and gossip about her. Francesca’s presence, meanwhile, suggests Eleanor might have a hand in whatever abuse Rachel suffers at this party, since her whole goal is to scare Rachel off.
Themes
After their flight, Rachel and the bachelorette crew transfer from the plane to catamarans, which drop them at Araminta’s mom, Annabel Lee’s, resort. Araminta announces that her mom is gifting every attendee five outfits from the boutique—but the girls have only 20 minutes to shop. As other girls fight over clothes, Rachel peruses a rack nobody else is looking at and watches Francesca pout to Araminta that she didn’t bring her new Chanel resort wear. To Rachel, Araminta shares that Francesca grew up poor—but then her grandpa had a stroke, her parents got his money, and Francesca and her mom transformed overnight.
Rachel tries to distance herself from the other girls and not get involved in their fights over clothes. She doesn’t care as much about clothing as they do, and so she’s uncomfortable with this exercise anyway—and she definitely doesn’t want to stand out by acting entitled. What Araminta says about Francesca is interesting, as it suggests that it is possible to rise up and become part of the upper class. But it’s also a bit sad: Francesca and Nadine became rich and powerful because of a family member’s illness. It’s impossible to know if they feel any remorse or sympathy for Francesca’s grandpa or if they’re just happy to have his money.
Themes
Not wanting to take advantage, Rachel picks a linen blouse and some silk batiste cocktail dresses. But as she’s in the dressing room, she hears girls in the next room talking about her, her cheap clothes, and the “desperate” look she has, just like one of the girls’ servants. The girls also say Rachel will “upgrade pretty damn quick” once she gets ahold of Nick’s money, though they also note that money can’t buy taste.
Readers know Rachel isn’t desperate; she’s overwhelmed. But the other girls have no compassion for her, seeing her as an obstacle and Nick as a prize to win. They also imply that Rachel must be with Nick for his money, which is again not what Rachel’s in it for. She loves Nick and had no idea he was rich—and his wealth is genuinely uncomfortable for her.
Themes
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Disturbed, Rachel exits the room and runs into Araminta. She insists she’s fine and offers to pay for her clothes, but Araminta declines. Their conversation turns to Astrid, and Araminta is desperate to know who designed the clothes Astrid wore last night. Rachel, however, doesn’t know. As Araminta announces the end of the shopping spree, Rachel discovers that some of the girls took two of her outfits, but Rachel’s just relieved shopping is over. She finds her villa and dips her toes in the sand. She never suspected she’d be someplace like this and wishes Nick was here.
Araminta is interested in Astrid, to be sure, but she’s mostly interested in Astrid’s clothing. That is, Araminta wants to know how Astrid is expressing her wealth, something that Rachel doesn’t care about (Rachel thinks Astrid is a great person with fun clothes, but who designed those clothes is of no interest). Rachel’s stolen outfits are foreboding, but for now, Rachel chooses to ignore this possible warning and just enjoy her time at the resort.
Themes
