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 the vintage Daimler Ah Ma sent for Rachel and Nick winds up the driveway to Tyersall Park, Nick points out landmarks and tells Rachel about all the trouble he and Colin got into when they were kids. At the house, servants carry luggage inside and the butler shares that Ah Ma is in the starfruit grove. Winding their way through the gardens, they come upon Ah Ma perched precariously on a ladder, wrapping starfruits in plastic bags while servants help and her lady’s maids observe. Rachel is concerned for the old woman’s safety, but Nick insists Ah Ma is fine.
Nick still reads as an ordinary guy who just happens to come from extraordinary circumstances—his early exposures to wealth haven’t corrupted him and robbed him of his humanity and compassion, as seems to have happened with Eleanor. This is readers’ (and Rachel’s) first opportunity to get a good sense of the kind of person Ah Ma is. Remember that her husband, James Young, was a “great” man because of his compassion, too, so this offers hope that Ah Ma may share this quality with her late husband.
Themes
When Ah Ma is finished with the tree, she leads Nick and Rachel to her orchid greenhouse in an English-style section of the garden, where servants set out a lavish tea service on an elaborately carved stone table. Ah Ma encourages Rachel to try the lemon curd on the scones, and Rachel tells Nick he’s right—these scones are the best. When Rachel asks Ah Ma if afternoon tea like this is a family custom, Ah Ma explains that she came from Peking and grew up serving tea to English guests, and it became a tradition when she married her English-educated husband. Ah Ma then mentions how her father said China would one day be the most powerful country in the world and says that the recent Beijing Olympics proved how great China is—and so Nick’s place, obviously, is in Asia.
Ah Ma says nothing openly antagonistic or rude. Still, she clearly thinks Nick is wasting his time in the U.S., where he lives with Rachel and where he and Rachel seem to be happy. This is an early indication that Ah Ma, like Eleanor, may want to exert her will on her grandson and try to force him to adhere to what she believes is appropriate. Discussing how great China is also suggests that Ah Ma sees China (and perhaps Asia as a whole) as superior to the U.S. or Europe. Still, she also seems perfectly happy following some European customs, such as English tea, if they please her or her family members.
Themes
Nick assures Ah Ma that he’ll return, but he’s learning a lot in New York right now. Ah Ma complains that Nick has become too Western. Rachel thinks this is ironic—this traditional Chinese woman is delivering this speech in a walled English garden. Nick excuses himself to greet family members who are supposed to arrive momentarily. Ah Ma asks a gardener to turn the heat up five degrees, and she then asks Rachel about her family. She says nothing about Rachel’s answers, but she then explains that her own father had many children with various women and only formally accepted three. He believed he could tell a person’s future based on their face, and in all cases, his assessments were correct. Ah Ma says she “see[s] [Rachel’s] face,” but Nick and a gaggle of family members arrive just then. Eddie dramatically greets Ah Ma, but Ah Ma smacks him.
Rachel recognizes that Ah Ma is cherry picking the parts of western culture that suit her (such as a certain landscaping styles and afternoon tea) while rejecting things (like Nick’s independence) that don’t let her get her way. While Rachel finds this odd and somewhat hypocritical, though, remember that Oliver noted earlier that wealthy Asian people of Ah Ma’s generation collected Art Deco and European art to signal status, so this isn’t as contradictory as Rachel thinks. Still, the important piece here is that Ah Ma isn’t thrilled with Nick’s choices to live in New York and make his life there—and this may also extend to his choice to date Rachel, whom others in the family believe is an inappropriate future wife for Nick.
Themes
