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
Since Nick left early in the morning to help Colin get ready, Rachel is in a car with Malcolm, Alexandra, and Victoria, listening to them gripe about the security checkpoints on the way to the church (there are important politicians in attendance). When they arrive, photographers start snapping pictures. They briefly pay attention to Rachel, but then Eddie, Fiona, and their kids get out of the car behind Rachel’s and the photographers and newscasters ask Eddie what he and his family are wearing. Looking around, Rachel sees that the wedding really is about showing off one’s clothing. While Nick’s aunties are wearing old, matronly, and even black and white dresses, many other guests are dressed fashionably in Parisian fashions or traditional saris or kimonos. Rachel is in an ice-blue dress with a matching blazer.
Nick’s relatives in the car seem at once like stereotypical crabby relatives and wildly entitled. It’s pretty standard for security to get involved wherever important politicians go, as annoying as extra security can be; his relatives seem to expect special treatment. The variety of clothing styles highlights that Singapore offers a lot of freedom to choose whether one wants to wear a traditional garment, like a kimono, or western fashions like Rachel’s dress. When it comes to fashion, it seems, there’s little (if any) risk of being called “too western.”
Themes
At the doors, an usher asks Rachel and Nick’s aunties for their names so he can show them to their seats. Victoria scoffs that this is her church and she’ll sit in her pew. But inside, the older women are aghast and disoriented: the brick, stained glass, and wood pews have been covered up or traded out for light wood chairs, silver lattice walls, and young aspen trees suspended from the ceiling. Nick’s family aren’t the only people ignoring the seating chart, as Annabel had no idea how to manage the “old-guard families” and their rivalries. Rachel joins Nick’s family near the front and soon, Oliver and his grandmother, Rosemary T’sien, join them. Oliver slips in next to Rachel, compliments her outfit, and then quietly tells her who everyone in attendance is.
Once again, the novel shows that Annabel and Araminta have in no way “made it” and integrated into the highest ranks of Singaporean society by noting that Annabel doesn’t know how to deal with “old-guard families.” She doesn’t know how to deal with them because she isn’t one of them—though she and her family are moving up in the world, as those families still come to the wedding. Meanwhile, the extravagant decorations highlight that Annabel is nevertheless wildly wealthy, though it’s interesting that her choices shock Nick’s family so much. This may speak to the difference between the ultrawealthy (like Annabel) and the tiny elite class above hers, which associates class with discretion.
Themes
Across the aisle, Daisy, Nadine, and Carol whisper that Annabel Lee has certainly made it: the Lees were nothing when they arrived in Singapore, but now, the president, prime minister, and Cassandra Shang are here. The ladies watch Alistair and Kitty enter the church and excitedly wait for the Young family to reject such a “shameful” addition to the family. However, the couple joins the family without issue, and Daisy sighs that Rachel looks like “the Blessed Virgin” compared to Kitty. Just then, Eleanor enters the church and notices how expensive Rachel’s dress is—she must be draining Nick’s accounts. It annoys her too when Rachel says that she and Nick went “home” early last night; it’s so presumptuous for Rachel to refer to Tyersall Park that way.
Grouping Cassandra Shang in with the president and prime minister is another indication of how powerful the Young family is. Rachel and Kitty are both outsiders hoping to marry into the Young family, but the novel shows again that they are hardly comparable. Rachel can at least look like she fits in, while Kitty is entirely classless to the point of being “shameful.” Eleanor, meanwhile, gets increasingly upset about everything Rachel does. Saying you’re “going home” to mean going back to a hotel or other accommodations is a standard figure of speech, but Eleanor interprets it maliciously. And she also assumes Rachel is inappropriately taking advantage of Nick, when really, Rachel only barely agreed to let Peik Lin do something nice for her.
Themes
Just then, the church goes quiet—but it’s Astrid and Ah Ma coming up the aisle, not the bride. Oliver, shocked, tells Rachel that people go to see Su Yi; Su Yi doesn’t go to people’s events. When a woman curtsies to Ah Ma, Oliver explains that Su Yi’s family saved the woman—who is the prime minister’s wife—and her family during World War II. He also notes that Su Yi’s dress is made of rare, expensive lotus-flower fabric that’s normally reserved for monks. Su Yi joins her daughters, explaining to Alexandra and Victoria that she wanted to see Nick as best man. As if on cue, Colin, Nick, Lionel, and Mehmet appear at the altar and the wedding commences.
That Ah Mah is ostensibly here to see Nick reinforces that Nick is the favorite grandson—thus, he’s in a good position to inherit her fortune and is an extremely eligible bachelor for young women looking to marry up. Ah Ma’s absurd wealth is on display here, but only to those who know what they’re looking for. That is, it’s not clear if it’s obvious to most people how rare and special her dress fabric is, or if Oliver just knows because he’s her grand-nephew.
Themes
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First, around 100 small blond boys—the Vienna Boys’ Choir—sing, and then the 16 bridesmaids enter as the orchestra plays. A virtuoso violinist plays as Araminta and her father walk down the aisle. Araminta shocks everyone by wearing a custom dress by Valentino, which is modeled after dresses European princesses wore (this makes her look like a “proper young wife from a very traditional, old-money Asian family”). Annabel Lee is thrilled; this wedding is a triumph. As this is going on, Astrid is relieved nobody notices Michael’s absence and Nick smiles at Rachel. He realizes, suddenly, he wants to marry her. He whispers “I love you” to her, and Eleanor sees this—time is running out. Araminta, meanwhile, notices Astrid’s dress: “that damn bitch” didn’t wear a new dress to her wedding.
Grand displays of wealth abound, from the Vienna Boys’ Choir (perhaps the best known boys’ choir in the world) to the virtuoso violinist to a custom wedding dress by a renowned designer. The dress shows how a person can use fashion to communicate something very specific: in this case, that Araminta is traditional and “old-money,” rather than the new-money fashion icon she is. However, when it comes to Astrid’s fashion choices, the novel shows that one’s fashion choices can also be used to snub others (though Astrid is almost certainly dressed the way she is because she’s so stressed about Michael).
Themes
