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’s friend Mehmet, a classics scholar from Istanbul, grimaces at the sight of the stretch Rolls-Royce Phantoms waiting for the bachelor party attendees. As the men pile into the limos, Nick murmurs to Mehmet that Colin’s cousin Lionel is the only person here, aside from Nick and Mehmet, that Colin knows—the other attendees are all “Beijing princelings and Taiwanese trust-fund brats” and Bernard Tai’s friends (Bernard planned the bachelor party). Bernard announces he has a surprise and after a short drive, the men get out at what looks like a Chinese apothecary. Bernard asks the man at the counter for ginseng royal jelly, and the man leads the group through a storeroom and into an indoor gym with a dogfighting pit in the middle. Bernard proudly tells the partygoers that this is the “greatest dogfighting arena in the world.”
Though the bachelor party is ostensibly for Colin, it reads way more as an excuse for Bernard Tai to show off his wealth, connections, and how “bad” he is. This highlights that the wedding and its accompanying festivities aren’t really about Colin and Araminta at all. It’s a way for their friends and families to posture and demonstrate their wealth. As far as Nick, Mehmet, and possibly Colin are concerned, this is really missing the point: they care about Colin and about making sure Colin has a good time. They see him as a person, not just money.
Themes
Lionel nervously confirms with Bernard that dogfighting is illegal, and Nick notes that dogfighting is cruel. Upset at the lackluster reaction, Bernard tells Nick to not ruin his fun. Colin diplomatically suggests that those who are interested can stay, while those who aren’t—including him—can go to the hotel. Annoyed, Bernard agrees to go to the hotel (he wants everyone to see how the folks at the hotel suck up to him). But when they get there, the suite he booked isn’t ready (the previous guests haven’t checked out, as it’s not checkout time yet). Bernard berates the front desk staff until Colin convinces Bernard to accept the hotel manager’s offer to set them up in a private gambling suite in the casino in the meantime.
Nick continues to emerge as a just and moral person. Where Lionel doesn’t want to get caught doing something illegal, Nick is more interested in the dogs’ welfare. Bernard, however, doesn’t care about legality or morality: he just wants to look cool, and he’d like others to see him look cool. This is why he’s so rude to the front desk staff. As he sees it, dehumanizing and belittling people with less power makes him look better. Nick and Colin, though, see people with less money as people—this is one reason Nick is dating Rachel.
Themes
Alistair wanders in and hugs Nick, ignoring Bernard’s taunts and explaining that he found the hotel easily since he used to skip school and come to Macau all the time. He tells Nick about his new girlfriend, Kitty, and says he already heard about Rachel from Radio One Asia. By now, the group is walking through the casino, and Colin sits down at a poker table. He insists “five-dollar poker” is more fun than betting thousands in the VIP room, again angering Bernard. Most of Bernard’s friends follow him to the VIP room, while Lionel, Mehmet, Nick, and Alistair stay with Colin, who suddenly looks depressed. Nick tries to lighten the mood, thinking that Bernard hasn’t changed at all since childhood.
Compared to Bernard, Colin has pedestrian tastes—the fun of poker, he seems to suggest, is playing it, not betting thousands of dollars. This continues to humanize Colin while making Bernard seem increasingly out of touch thanks to his wealth and power. The bachelor party also continues to separate into two distinct groups: those who want to flaunt their wealth and power with Bernard, and Colin’s true friends who are here because they love Colin and want to celebrate him.
Themes
Nick and Colin met and became friends when, as a boy, Colin pulled little Nick out of the ditch where Bernard had pushed him. Nick was taken with Colin, who had recently moved to Singapore from Los Angeles, because Colin said he had a signed picture of Sylvester Stallone. Both boys were staying late after school, Colin for private Mandarin class and Nick because his parents regularly forgot him at school. Colin’s grandmother offered to take Nick home when she discovered why Nick was there (he didn’t know Eleanor was going out of town, but he softly said that she often left suddenly).
While the novel doesn’t really go into Colin’s relationship with his parents, this passage continues to show readers what Nick’s relationship to his family is like. And in contrast to Colin’s caring, present grandmother (and Rachel’s mom), Nick’s parents seem distant and out of touch. This creates the impression that they don’t much care about Nick, which in turn reflects his family’s belief that family exists to preserve wealth, not to support its members.
Themes
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