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
Astrid is charmed when Ah Chee, Charlie’s childhood maid, opens the door and greets her and Charlie warmly. She hurries away to get Astrid and Charlie food, though they insist they’re not hungry. When Astrid notices the Brancusi sculptures, Charlie explains that his wife hates Brancusi. He was only able to get all his collected art out when he moved to this apartment, which is small but convenient. Astrid says it’s bigger than her apartment; Michael didn’t want to let Harry buy them a bigger place, so she agreed to live someplace Michael could afford. Annoyed by “that idiot” Michael, Charlie sets Astrid up in his bedroom and leaves her alone. As Astrid admires the Hong Kong skyline, she thinks about her and Charlie’s early days.
Unlike, say, Eddie, Charlie has a positive relationship with his staff, namely Ah Chee. Though she certainly facilitates his lavish lifestyle, this hasn’t turned him into a cruel, classist monster. Constantin Brancusi is considered one of the most influential 20th-century sculptors, so his work is both coveted and expensive. These details about Ah Chee and Brancusi show that Charlie—like Astrid and Nick—has expensive taste and money to burn, but he still manages to be kind and compassionate.
Themes
It’s 1995, and Charlie has brought Astrid to see Paris for the first time. Charlie grew up flying through Europe, eating out, and shopping, but Astrid didn’t: her family eats at home and has a family tailor who makes their clothes. Now that they’re both 18, Charlie wants to show Astrid his world, “dress her like the princess she [is],” and make her his. So he leads her to a boutique and sends her to look around while he buys camera batteries across the street. Astrid enters the chic, modern space and admires the clothes draped on hooks. The saleswoman haughtily asks if she can help Astrid, and when Astrid asks about one of the dresses, the woman says it’s couture—made to order—and really expensive.
Recall that Charlie isn’t as wealthy as Astrid; indeed, these descriptions of his early life situate him alongside other new-money characters (like Peik Lin and Araminta) who are obsessed with shopping and showing off their wealth. However, he also recognizes that shopping can be fun, and that, by being so old-money that she doesn’t shop, Astrid is missing out. Thus, he seeks to win her over by helping her develop the ultrawealthy person’s version of pedestrian taste.
Themes
Astrid runs into Charlie as she’s leaving the boutique. He’s enraged to hear that the saleswoman wouldn’t help Astrid and storms in. He tells the woman and the man who just appeared that he’d like to buy Astrid a new wardrobe. When the woman asks about payment, Charlie gets on his phone and asks his banker to get in contact with the Paris branch and call this shop to inform them he can afford whatever he wants. A few minutes later, the phone rings—and the woman apologizes, hangs up, and consults with her colleague in French. Astrid can understand everything and tells Charlie that his banker called the designer himself; he’s coming to supervise her fittings. Charlie insists Astrid choose at least 20 garments. According to his dad, the only way to get racist white people to respect you is to spend a lot of money.
Charlie does here what Astrid’s dad, Harry Leong, did in the novel’s prologue when he bought the Calthorpe Hotel after a racist hotelier was racist to Felicity. Money, Charlie suggests, has the unique power to essentially buy a person’s way out of experiencing racism—an obviously imperfect system, but one that perhaps enables people to avoid certain ugly realities to a certain extent. This perhaps explains why Eleanor, for instance, doesn’t want Rachel to marry in. Does she worry that diluting the family’s storied name and wealth might open members up to racism and discrimination?
Themes
Charlie buys Astrid all sorts of things over the next week, from Hermès luggage to dozens of couture dresses and a diamond-encrusted watch. They eat out and dance. On this trip, Astrid discovers couture clothing and a new passion. Spending money like Charlie is exhilarating.
Though they don’t end up together, Charlie makes Astrid who she is in the present: a shopaholic who sees no issue spending money on things she likes. Astrid’s humanity seems to come, in part, from having embraced a more new-money perspective on spending.
Themes
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