The identity of people and of families is defined as much by what they are as by what they exclude. The very white Sinclair family has trouble with non-whites. Specifically, the elders—Tipper and Harris—have a hard time accepting the fact that one of their daughters, Carrie, has taken up with a man of South Asian descent. They are especially hard on his son, Gat, who will be Cady's love. Cady once again proves her difference from the parent culture in which she grew up. She is new, and they are old—in all sorts of ways. She believes people have interiors that are more important than their exteriors, and she has a gift for seeing and succinctly summarizing people's interior qualities. For example, she sees instantly that Gat has a very driven personality. That they fall in love is a good sign for both of them because they are quite alike. She rebels against her wealthy WASP family while he rebels against a society that has such inequality in it.