Analysis of Classist Undertones in 'Crazy Rich Asians'

Introduction

The story under analysis is an extract from one of the novels written by Kevin Kwan which is Crazy Rich Asians. This particular passage can be found on the second part of the book, Chapter Eight, and it shows one of the instances where the protagonist of the story, Rachel Chu, experienced the issue of class discrimination or classism firsthand. The main idea of the extract is that while Rachel was trying on a white linen blouse which Araminta Lee—the extremely rich and popular bride-to-be of Colin Khoo—generously gave away at her bachelorette party, she overhears two girls in the next dressing room talking negatively about someone and Rachel instantly knew that they were referring to her. The basic theme of the book under analysis, particularly this passage, is classism as aforementioned and this is quite apparent in most dialogues or conversations of the side characters in every chapter. That being said, these classist undertones are one of the reasons why the conflict of the book mainly focuses on the man versus the society and why Rachel struggles to gain the acceptance of the people involved in her beloved, Nick’s life.

Classism in 'Crazy Rich Asians'

Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians showed the rest of the world a different side of Asian culture that is quite different to what other people usually see in movies and other books—the upper class of contemporary Asia and their lavish lifestyle, rich culture and crazy family dramas. The book is as much about the clash of cultures as it is about the clash of classes; it perfectly depicted the conflict between East and West, Asian and Asian American, Singaporean Chinese and Mainland Chinese, and old money and new money. The tension between people who have the same heritage but immensely different in their perspectives and social backgrounds is one of the interesting factors that really showed the conflict in this story. However, the foregrounded concept all throughout the book is really classism.

Class discrimination, or classism in simpler terms, is the different treatment of people according to their social class or perceived social class. It is the systematic oppression of subordinated class groups to advantage and strengthen the dominant class groups. Moreover, it is the reason why higher-class people think that they are far more superior than the other because they believe that the assignment of characteristics, worth and ability are all based on their social class or economic status. This theme is foregrounded in every chapter of the book and it is the reason why I chose this story. The reality of life is well portrayed in the book—the richer you are, the more powerful and respectable you are in the society. The classist undertones in the story are quite easy to find in each chapter because regardless of how much you hate a person, in Chinese culture, you have to remain calm and composed—keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Thus, instead of lashing out and explicitly stating the way they feel about Rachel, most characters in the story tend to be passive aggressive when they are dealing with her.

The narration of the story is told in the third person from the viewpoint of an omniscient anonymous narrator and it is in the direct speech. However, the internal dialogues of the characters are also incorporated in every chapter and with these two kinds of narration combined, the story becomes more vivid, raw, emotional and understandable. The particular passage used for this analysis is written in italicized form indicating that it is a conversation which does not include the protagonist and should not be heard by someone else. Moreover, the author did not explicitly state or explain the identities of the characters involved in the narrative—they are only regarded as “two girls in the next dressing room”. It only further proves that a lot of people, known or not, does not really approve of Rachel and Nick’s relationship. The author uses the language of everyday life, incorporates Singaporean slangs and avoids the complex bookish words and phrases: these features really make the book an easy-read.

The importance of the conflict of Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians plays a big role in foregrounding the theme of the story which is classism. Moreover, there are several factors that explain why the conflict of the story focuses on the man versus the society. For starters, the protagonist, Rachel Chu, is the essential good character in the story. She is well-educated, beautiful, independent, kind, career-driven and the hero who does not follow conventions and stereotypes. However, regardless of her good attributes and characteristics, for Nick’s family and friends, she is still an unsophisticated foreigner. Her kind nature can be seen on the last part of the extract wherein Rachel, even after being shaken by the mean things the two girls have just said about her, just opted to rush out of the dressing room instead of confronting them about it (“Rachel realized with a start that the girls were talking about her. Shaken, she rushed out of the dressing room, almost colliding into Araminta.”)

This passage is the result of the first factor in the conflict of the story: her upbringing. There is a lot of tension in Crazy Rich Asians especially about where a person is born. This is evident after everyone got mad when they learned that Rachel was actually born from Mainland China and was just raised in America (“she’s not even ABC—she was born in Mainland China!”). Since lineage plays an important part in judging someone’s character and wealth, everyone believed that Rachel is unrefined, unsophisticated and simply unfit for the heir of the Young family; the other family members and Singaporean Chinese people think likewise. This factor also contributes to why classist undertones are very much foregrounded all throughout the book.

Clash of Cultures and Social Backgrounds

The second factor that makes up the conflict in the story is the clash between the Singaporean Chinese and Mainland Chinese and this now very evident in the chosen extract from the book. The Singaporean Chinese’s disdain for anyone who is not Singaporean is intense because they believe that Mainlanders are the lowest class of Chinese—even those who grew up in America like Rachel. In the passage, two of Nick’s jealous and backbiting fangirls are discussing things about Rachel and the dialogue between them only shows how Rachel’s social and cultural background will always be far more important than her character or her accomplishments for everyone in Singapore. Moreover, the extract always involves Rachel as the main doer of the material verbs. She is also the most active participant (she was referred to for 15 times; see Appendix B) throughout the passage and it goes to show that she is currently the talk of the town.

To express and convey the negative thoughts of the two girls in the extract, the author used various syntactical and lexical expressive means. One of those is the use of enumerating Rachel’s features throughout the dialogue. Enumeration raises the expressiveness of speech—it makes the conversation dynamic and informative. In the passage, these enumerations foreground the idea that all eyes are actually on Rachel—her appearance and her every move. These enumerations include: “Where did she get that cheap-looking tunic top—Mango?”, “she’s not even ABC—she was born in Mainland China!”, “She’s got that same desperate look that all my servants have”, “here’s a chance for her to get some decent clothes” and “with all that Young money she’s going to upgrade pretty damn quick!”. These enumerations of Rachel’s features also portray the two girls as people who are quite judgmental and people who automatically think that being born in Mainland China is equated to being poor and desperate like “servants”.

The two speakers also used rhetorical questions (“Did you see what she was wearing?”, “Where did she get that cheap-looking tunic top—Mango?”, “How can you expect her to have any style?” and “Think she gets it from reading American Vogue?”). These rhetoric questions aim at catching the attention of the audience. Thus, making the sequential sentences sound persuasive and significant. With the use of these rhetorical questions, the author makes the readers realize that not only do the girls think that Rachel is poor, but they also think that Rachel looks poor. The frugal nature of people from Mainland China disgusts Chinese Singaporeans. Unlike them who live a lavish and extravagant lifestyle,

Lexical expressive means is also often used to express the girls’ attitude towards Rachel. Their dialogue includes simile such as “she’s got the same desperate look that all my servants have” and indirect characterization such as “she’s not even ABC—she was born in Mainland China!” and “all that money in the world can’t buy you taste if you weren’t born with it”. The use of simile makes the speech more expressive and it also provides comparison. Moreover, the use of indirect characterization shows the character's personality through speech, actions and appearance. Through the use of these two lexical devices, the foregrounded idea is that girls hate Rachel because they think she is poor, desperate and just simply a gold-digger (with all that Young money she’s going to upgrade pretty damn quick!”).

Now we move on to the third and fourth factor that make up the conflict of the story which are the cultural differences between the East and West. These differences are actually only applicable to the other chapters of the book and not the chosen passage. However, it is still worth discussing because since Rachel was born in Mainland China but was brought up in America, her values are more of American than Chinese. She values her own happiness and she is quite a free-spirited person. For the matriarchs of the book, that is a big red flag because they think that family should always comes first no matter what. Moreover, in the book, Rachel is seen as someone who is not sentimental or someone who is longing for her origins, culture and people. Instead of learning where she came from or remembering who she was before, she just continued to follow her own set of values and principles in life. Moreover, since Rachel is a Mainlander who grew up in America, it is only natural for her to have a frugal nature. She does not like fashion and so she would rather settle for what is comfortable and cheap rather than branded and overpriced pieces. However, this only contributes to the Chinese Singaporeans’ long list of things they hate about Rachel Chu.

The negative describers that are related to each other as seen in this particular extract includes: “cheap-looking tunic top”, “Mainland China” and “desperate look”. These things contradict the other related describer which is “decent clothes”. Such words belong to the semantic group of “poverty”. With the help of these words, the author makes the readers think that Rachel is extremely poor and she looks like the girls’ servants. Also, in other parts of the book, most maids of the Chinese Singaporean elites are from Mainland China. Thus, they think of Rachel, who was born in Mainland China, as just someone who’s level is as low as their housemaids. That being said, they completely cannot fathom the idea that such a powerful and perfect man such as Nick Young would fall in love with an unrefined foreigner that is Rachel. This is also a factor why one the girls uttered this classist statement: “all that money in the world can’t buy you taste if you weren’t born with it”.

Singaporean families believed that since the Youngs are old money, the idea of Nick marrying an unknown Asian-American woman is simply unacceptable—no matter how charming or accomplished Rachel is as a person. The Young family, with all its affluence, lineage, and influence, seems to be a culture all of its own. Nick’s grandmother had created traditions and customs that helped in the preservation of the sanctity and safety of their money and even their bloodline. These archaic customs actually provide an interesting contrast to the modern and progressive environment of Singapore. Moreover, the shared knowledge about the Youngs being an old money is simply enough for other rich Chinese Singaporeans to disapprove Nick and Rachel’s relationship and specifically to hate Rachel.

Kevin Kwan made sure to point out in the book that there is an existing cultural and social tension between families who are old money and new money, Singaporean Chinese and Mainland Chinese and Asian and Asian-American because of their different perspectives and social backgrounds. Through these factors, the author was able to show that these social hierarchy and classist standards in Chinese society are considered normal to conform to and therefore become the basis of how people see and treat each other, albeit people having the same heritage or roots. The importance of family values also plays a huge role in this book as it made the readers realize that the sole reason why Eleanor thought that Rachel was not fit for her son is because she only wants the best for her son—the idea of a golden spoon being used to eat a banana is just an absurd concept for most Chinese Singaporean elites.

'Crazy Rich Asians': Gossip Culture

Going back to analyzing the stylistics of the book, the usage of verbal verbs is worth noticing. In the book, gossip is a very prominent and effective tool to use when spreading news and other discussions especially for the Chinese Singaporean elites. The culture of gossiping has been a part of the daily routines of many for a long time; the word travels faster than television news. Through these verbal verbs (chatting away, Francesca says and, talking about her), it can be seen that the perception of people on Rachel Chu and her image are actually based on numerous rumors and gossips going around the elite circle. In the passage, the sayers or utterers are usually the two girls and Francesca who is a close friend of them and the content of their messages are always about Rachel.

The sensors for the mental verbs in the passage such as “you see”, “you expect”, “(you) think”, “I knew”, “we’ll see” and “you watch” are always in the second person or first person. For each mental verb, the sensor will always be either of the two girls and the phenomenon will always be related to Rachel. Thus, making them the active participants. The frequent use of mental verbs by the two Chinese Singaporean girls involved in the dialogue can be seen as a trait or characteristic which most observers tend to have. Since gossip culture is prominent in their elite circle, it is natural for them to be very observant at first. The use of “see” and “watch” denote that they are always conscious, observant and aware of the things Rachel does. To be observant means to be quick to notice even the littlest things and mundane details—something that every good gossiper needs to have. Moreover, the overall idea of the excerpt simply shows how snobbish most Chinese Singaporeans are especially when they are talking in private.

Lastly, the title itself, Crazy Rich Asians, is a stylistic device of playing with words and its meaning. When you say Crazy Rich Asians where you emphasize on the word crazy, readers will think that the story is about these rich Asians who are mad or insane. However, when you say Crazy Rich Asians where you emphasize on the words crazy and rich, readers will think that the story is about Asians who are insanely loaded. The title alone conveys the idea of social class—it suggests that this story is about the extraordinary culture of wealthy Asians.

Conclusion

With the help of such stylistic devices and expressive means, the author was able to explain to the readers that in Chinese culture, social class is a very important part of someone’s identity.

References

1. Jaworski, Adam & Thurlow, Crispin. (2009). Taking an Elitist Stance: Ideology and the Discursive Production of Social Distinction. Stance: Sociolinguistic Perspectives.
2. Jaworski, Adam & Thurlow, Crispin. (2017). Introducing elite discourse: The rhetorics of status,
3. privilege, and power, Social Semiotics, 27:3, 243-254.
4. Simpson, P. (1997). Language through literature: An introduction. Routledge.

5. Simpson, P. (2014). Stylistics: A resource book for students, 2nd ed., Routledge.