47 pages • 1 hour read
Jesse AndrewsMe and Earl and the Dying Girl
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2012A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 37-39Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 37 Summary: “The End of Our Lives”
Because Greg spends so much time on Rachel’s film, his grades plummet. His parents enlist the help of Mr. McCarthy, who agrees to keep Greg after school to help him avoid failing all his classes. Greg notices his mom’s strange behavior but is unsure about the reasons behind it until he attends a pep rally at school: Principal Stewart calls Greg and Earl to the stage for a school-wide viewing of Rachel the Film. Greg discovers that Denise found the film, watched it, showed it to Greg’s mom, and the two women decided that despite Greg and Earl’s noted secrecy about their film projects, everyone should see what they created for Rachel.
Chapter 38 Summary: “Aftermath”
Greg explains that if this were a movie, the high school auditorium would have erupted in cheers at the finale of their film and Greg and Earl would have been heroes. This is not Greg’s reality. Their classmates feel the film is too “weird and confusing” (270). They, in fact, hate it. Their teachers, however, assure Greg and Earl that they love the film, as does Madison, but Greg believes none of them. It is now impossible for Greg to be invisible at school, and not only do people see him, he feels they despise him. He and Earl stop talking. Greg stops going to school. Instead, he locks himself in his room for a week, ignores his parents, and destroys every DVD of every film he’s ever made. It is then that he receives a call that Rachel is back in the hospital.
Chapter 39 Summary: “Aftermath II”
Greg sits with Denise in Rachel’s hospital room and cries. Rachel has pneumonia and is not awake when Greg arrives. He realizes that he has only understood that Rachel is dying on an intellectual level, but now, as he witnesses her actually dying, Greg feels this loss on a much deeper level. He links this new understanding to why he had so much trouble making a film for her – because he didn’t understand death at all; he didn’t understand Rachel at all. Greg’s failed film amplifies his anger toward Rachel’s death because now, “she was just going to be lost” (278). He thinks of all the things that make Rachel who she is, and wishes he could have found a way to capture them in his film. Greg’s mom arrives and apologizes for what Greg thinks is her showing their film to his school, but his mom is apologizing for encouraging him to spend so much time with Rachel. She shows no regret about showing the film, but does worry she forced too much onto Greg by asking him to befriend Rachel. Greg remains resolute that his mom made a mistake with sharing their film and demands she listen to his reasons. She does, and concedes that Greg could be right, then proceeds to cry while listing her counterpoints, none of which Greg can argue against. They go home, and Greg knows this is the last time he’ll see Rachel.
Chapter 37-Chapter 39 Analysis
Greg’s mom shatters his former way of life by having Rachel the Film shown at a school pep rally. Greg feels completely exposed and obsesses over his classmates’ opinions. He isolates himself from everyone in his life and locks himself in his room. He destroys the only copies he has of every film he’s made, then finds out Rachel is back in the hospital. Everything he started withdisappears: anonymity, likability, a calm home life, a co-director, and a friend.
Divesting Greg of everything that means anything to him incites him to be open and vulnerable while saying goodbye to Rachel. She isn’t conscious, which further allows Greg to cry openly and contemplate his feelings towards her. Because he finally permits himself to exist in a raw state, Greg recognizes that he did not understand death or Rachel at all.
