47 pages • 1 hour read
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
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Chapters 3-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 3 Summary: “Let's Just Get This Embarrassing Chapter Out of the Way”
Greg lists the top three things he knows about girls: they prefer attractive guys (which Greg is not); they respond favorably to self-confidence (which Greg does not possess); and every attempt Greg has made towards girls has failed miserably. Greg offers five examples of his girl-getting techniques that include: accusing a girl he likes of having a crush on him (she did not); relentlessly insulting a girl he likes until he makes her cry; flirting with the best friend of the girl he likes; complimenting a girl’s boobs (which he learns they do not appreciate); and, pretending to be a gentleman with a British accent in order to get a girl to go on a date with him. These attempts happen in middle school; by high school, Greg chooses to not even try with girls.
Chapter 4 Summary: “Where Are They Now?”
Greg updates his readers as to where the girls from his failed attempts at dating are now. Cammie heads up the math team; Madison is the hottest girl in school; Leah’s a staunch feminist with multiple facial piercings and no hair; Mara attended a different high school; Mariah still talks a lot, but with the theater kids now; and Rachel got cancer.
Chapter 5 Summary: “The Dying Girl”
Greg reiterates that his first day of senior year has gone smoothly, up until the moment his mom gets involved. Switching to screenplay format, Greg illustrates his interaction with his mom once she enters his room after he arrives home from school. He gleans from her demeanor “that she is about to ask Greg to do SOMETHING ANNOYING” (32). A very awkward conversation ensues in which Greg’s mom discloses that Rachel has cancer and encourages Greg to reconnect with her because she’ll “need her friends now more than ever” (36). To understand Rachel’s specific cancer, Greg opens his computer, momentarily exposing his mother to the boobs he’d been looking at before her arrival. After this awkwardness, Greg learns that acute myelogenous leukemia shows up unexpectedly and spreads very quickly, attacking a person’s blood and bone marrow. Greg asks his mom if others know about Rachel’s cancer and finds out they do not. When she spoke with Rachel’s mother, they decided Greg could be someone to cheer her up with his particular brand of sarcasm and humor. Greg reluctantly agrees.
Chapter 3-Chapter 5 Analysis
Greg reluctantly reminisces about his middle school dating life and reveals he’s not that good at it. His priorities reflect those of a typical teenage boy concerned with how to get a “hot” girl, and his approaches vary from incessant insults to ice creams dates while using a British accent. His continual reprimanding of himself and wish for self-injury illustrate an unexpected level of vulnerability. Even though Greg actively chooses not to seek out romantic or platonic relationships, his reliance on sarcasm suggests a connection with someone is precisely what he desires, though he refuses to ask for it.
Although Greg informed readers about Rachel having cancer in his author’s note, when he updates the whereabouts of his failed dating attempts, the same information, here, feels like a reveal. He bounces so quickly from one topic to the next, often berating himself in the process, that revealing Rachel’s cancer a second time achieves surprise.
Even as Greg’s mom discusses Rachel’s cancer and the importance of him reaching out to her, Greg’s narrative refers to the boobs on his laptop screen. Anytime a topic becomes sardonic or laden with difficult feelings, Greg finds a way to interject something more light-hearted, effectively delaying the full brunt of his emotion until a later time.
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