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
A speedboat takes Astrid from the jetty out into Repulse Bay, where Charlie is waiting on a restored 18th-century Chinese junk to take Astrid sailing. (She’s spent the last few weeks grieving the end of her marriage at Charlie’s apartment; he thought she could use a pick-me-up.) They discuss the junk’s history and, inevitably, the conversation comes around to Michael. Though Charlie assures Astrid she couldn’t have changed anything, she insists that’s not true—she could’ve not asked Michael to sign the prenup, stopped buying couture dresses, and stopped buying him lavish gifts. Charlie insists that Astrid is a good person, even if she does have “extravagant tastes.” And he admits that he doesn’t resent Astrid for how she treated him. He’s just mad at her parents.
Charlie distills one of the novel’s main ideas: that money can certainly deprive people of their humanity (as in Eleanor’s case), but it doesn’t have to. Astrid is one of the kindest people in the novel, and that has nothing to do with how much money she has (except that it enables her to purchase expensive gifts). The problem, as Charlie sees it, is Astrid’s parents (and that entire generation), which has made protecting money a huge part of how they live their lives and expect their children to live theirs.
Themes
Sighing, Astrid says her parents will be mad now that she didn’t marry Charlie. They used to stick up their noses at the Wu family’s new tech fortune, but now the Wus are highly influential—and Astrid is going to be a shameful divorcée. As deckhands bring snacks and a bottle of Sauterne wine, Astrid laments that she and Michael loved drinking Sauternes together. She says she was happy and so was Cassian, and she feels like she’s failed Cassian. Charlie insists that Michael messed up and failed Cassian, though Astrid’s family is intimidating and he can empathize. He figures it’d be easier for an attractive woman than for a man like Michael, who’s attractive but not wealthy, to marry in.
Remember at the bachelorette, when Sophie Khoo talked about the upper crust scorning “imperfect” families (whether those families are “imperfect” because a parent died or because of divorce). Astrid doesn’t want to leave her circle, but she also knows she may no longer be welcome in it after she and Michael separate. Charlie’s optimism that a woman would have an easier time marrying in is charming, but the novel shows Charlie is wrong: Rachel has been run off, clearly disproving the point.
Themes
Astrid laughs that at first, it seemed like Michael didn’t care about her money—but she was wrong, and he cared too much. She begins to sob into Charlie’s shoulder, and Charlie assures her that it’s okay for her to show emotion. Charlie recognizes how absurd this situation is: Astrid is his ex-fiancée, and here she is crying to him about another man. They sit together for several hours on the junk. Charlie brought Astrid out here to confess that he’s never stopped loving her, but he knows it’s too late now. He comforts himself with the thought that at least she used to love him. As they return to Repulse Bay, Charlie tells Astrid to not grant Michael a fast divorce. He might come back. And in the meantime, Astrid should live her life how she wants to. Astrid agrees.
Astrid’s realization that Michael cared “too much” about her money may prove instructive for Rachel and Nick. Rachel, like Michael, doesn’t care about Nick’s money. But this doesn’t mean that, years down the line, Rachel won’t also find navigating Nick’s family and money way too difficult. She may care, just in a way that’s consistent with how she’s rejected his money thus far. For his part, Charlie realizes that he’s not going to be able to successfully woo Astrid, the love of his life. His tact and respect for her wishes stands out in a novel where so many people try to impose what they want on others.
Themes
After Charlie drops Astrid off, he calls Aaron, the chief financial officer of his family’s company. He asks Aaron to acquire Cloud Nine Solutions tomorrow and to offer at least $30 million for it. He then wants Aaron to get the founding partner, Michael Teo, the best stock options available and quickly take the company public. Charlie doesn’t care what Aaron has to do to make this happen, but it can’t trace back to him. Hanging up, Charlie thinks that if he can’t have Astrid himself, he at least wants to do what he can to help her be happy with Michael again.
Charlie genuinely believes he’s doing the right thing here and is being helpful. His plan, essentially, seems to be to make Michael into an “appropriate” match for Astrid by making him very rich very fast. However, the novel has already implied that Astrid’s parents won’t be impressed by anyone else’s money, so it remains to be seen whether Charlie’s plan will work.
Themes
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