47 pages • 1 hour read
Jesse AndrewsMe and Earl and the Dying Girl
Jesse AndrewsFiction | 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.
Chapter 40-EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 40 Summary: “Aftermath III”
Near the end of winter break, Greg and Earl meet at Thuyen’s Saigon Flavor. Greg tells Earl that Rachel has died, which Earl knew, then confesses he scratched up all their DVDs and asks if Earl got his copies back from Rachel. Earl says he did, but he burned them, so there are no more copies of any of their films. Earl decides it’s time to move on from filmmaking, and that maybe he’ll manage a Wendy’s instead, anything to get out of his mom’s house. Greg mentions that he’s failing his classes because he stopped going to school, and Earl tells him he’s stupid to do so because he has a chance at college. Greg says he’s thinking about film school. Earl tell him Rachel has asked Earl to apply, too, but he doesn’t have any money to go to film school. When Greg suggests a scholarship and presses Earl that Rachel would have wanted them to work together again, Earl reminds Greg that this is his first negative experience. Earl comes from a very broken home, and if he lives his life to take care of his mother and brothers, he’ll lose himself completely. So, he must take care of himself first. He suggests Greg do the same and not live his life for Rachel’s memory and concentrate on graduating high school. They revert to their familiar Gross-Out Mode banter about the questionable creatures floating in their pho.
Epilogue Summary
It is now June, and Greg has completed his book. He reveals that although University of Pittsburgh accepted him for the following year, they rescinded their offer when Greg failed four of his fall semester classes. His Dad encourages him to reach out to Pitt and explain why he failed; his mom suggests he show the people at Pitt Rachel the Film or make a new film for their consideration, but after hearing that Earl has retired from filmmaking, Greg decides to retire, too, but only momentarily.
As he writes his final plea to Pitt, he realizes he will eventually un-retire and make a really good film. Greg updates his readers on Madison Hartner, Mr. McCarthy, Earl, and Rachel. Madison ends up dating a former gothy-dork-turned-smart-kid, much to Greg’s chagrin. Mr. McCarthy’s soup was not drugged the day Greg and Earl accidentally got high, but the cookies Earl brought to school were (his brother’s girlfriend had made pot cookies without Earl knowing). Earl now works at Wendy’s and occasionally hangs out with Greg at Thuyen’s Saigon Flavor, where they discuss what’s going on in their lives. Rachel’s mom had her cremated, then scattered her ashes in Frick Park, where she used to go as a kid. Greg feels comforted that he can learn something new about a person even after they die.
Chapter 40-Epilogue Analysis
Before she dies, Rachel asks Earl and Greg both to promise to use their films to get into college. After they resentfully screen their film at the school pep rally, both directors irreparably damage their DVDs, and since they habitually destroy the raw footage at the end of every project, their films, like Rachel, no longer exist.
Without the films as their customary form of connection, Greg and Earl start to learn about each other as people. Earl’s many experiences with death and disappointment cause him to take a rational and tactical approach to life, knowing that to break the cycle of disorder in his family, he must find a job and move out of his mother’s house. Greg seems to have been made more impressionable by Rachel’s death, wanting to create more films with Earl because he knows it would make her happy. Earl tells him to focus on getting into college.
The book represents Greg’s effort to do just that – get into the University of Pittsburgh. The college initially accepted him, but because he failed so many of his classes, they rescind their offer. Greg writes this book to tell them why he failed, to tell them about Rachel and Earl and what, if anything,he has learned. Greg learns something new about Rachel after she dies – that she liked going to Frick Park as a girl because she wanted to be a squirrel – and this suggests that learning continues even after the experience is over.
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