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 33-36Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 33 Summary: “Jesus, Now What Am I Supposed to Do”
Rachel comes home in late November, happy to be back in her room and free of chemicals and needles and hospitals. Greg starts talking to avoid thinking about the fact that Rachel has come home to die. She and Greg fall into easy conversation until Rachel asks how the film is coming along. Greg learns that, in addition to several other people, Earl has revealed to Rachel that they are making a film about and for her. He leaves abruptly to go talk to Earl.
Chapter 34 Summary: “Fight Club, Except Lamer”
Since Greg and Earl have never fought one another, Greg practices what he’ll say to Earl on his way to Earl’s house. He plans to tell Earl that he feels betrayed because Earl told Rachel about their film and demand that Earl does something to earn back his trust. By the time Greg arrives at Earl’s house, he’s too worked up to ring the bell, so he sends Earl a text to let him know he’s outside. Greg is no match for Earl’s rage and does his best not to cry while Earl goes on a tirade about how Greg is too secretive and cares too much about what other people think.Earl tells him how stupid he thinks Greg is to be at his house, whining about the film, when he could be with his dying friend in her final days. Earl punches Greg in the gut, effectively ending their fight, then helps him back up so they can go back to Greg’s house, to work on Rachel’s film together.
Chapter 35 Summary: “Deadline”
Begrudgingly taking a note from YouTube, Greg and Earl use Greg’s laptop to film a personal message to Rachel. Earl is eloquent and honest and vulnerable, complimenting Rachel on her patience and for not shying away from the fact that she is dying. Greg stumbles through a half-hearted and poorly-delivered message about his belief that Rachel can get better. Greg realizes he’s lied but isn’t entirely sure why. He spends the weekend editing the film until his mom walks into his room late Sunday night to comfort a very upset Greg.
Chapter 36 Summary: “Rachel the Film”
Greg convinces himself that Rachel’s film is the worst they’ve ever made. They decide to combine all five attempts into one film, so it consists of direct addresses from both Greg and Earl, along with “documentary footage, confessionals, stop-motion animation, and puppetry” (259). Rachel watches the film and tells Greg she likes it, also admitting it wasn’t her favorite film of theirs. Greg is relieved by her honesty. He tries to explain why making the film had been so difficult, but he realizes he doesn’t understand why himself. As they sit together in silence, Greg thinks to himself about how resentful he feels toward Rachel. He resents that she has decided to die. He also feels stupid for having said otherwise in the film. Rachel asks Greg for a favor. She hands him back the book of colleges he’s loaned her and tells him she’s found some film schools and she wants both Greg and Earl to use the films they’ve made to apply to them. Greg knows he can’t refuse her request, so he promises he will do so.
Chapter 33-Chapter 36 Analysis
Even with everything Greg has learned about himself and Rachel, he still becomes enraged when he finds out Earl told Rachel about the film they are making for her. Rather than stay with his dying friend, Greg marches over to Earl’s house to exact revenge on him for his disloyalty. Because the time frame is so tight – Rachel is diagnosed sometime near the beginning of fall semester and comes home to die at the end of November – Greg’s slow changes seem plausible.
Once Greg and Earl reconvene, they realize they must swiftly finish Rachel’s film. They record themselves to add a personal message to Rachel. Earl and Greg are different in many ways, but seeing their disparate abilities to cope with Rachel’s impending death establishes how far apart they are on an emotional level. Earl confronts Rachel’s death and shows her empathy and deep concern whereas Greg shies away from the topic, and instead tells her he believes she can win this battle. In doing so, Greg negates Rachel’s story, opting to stick to the fictional one he has created for her. He identifies that this feels wrong to him, but he cannot determine why.
Greg sits with Rachel after she views the film and considers how resentful he feels towards her. He does not voice this resentment, but being able to name it, even to himself, shows a major shift in Greg’s emotional growth.
