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This research article investigates the defensive function of humour in Jesse Andrews’ Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, specifically examining how the protagonist, Greg Gaines, utilises humour to navigate the trauma of terminal illness. The central research problem addresses whether humour in the novel facilitates interpersonal connection or serves as a psychological barrier to emotional intimacy.Employing a theoretical framework that synthesises Thomas Hobbes’s Superiority Theory and Henri Bergson’s concept of Mechanical Inelasticity, the methodology involves a qualitative literary analysis of Greg’s social strategies, parody films, and self-deprecating discourse.Key findings reveal that Greg’s humour acts as a defensive application of superiority. By parodying classic cinema and adopting a loser persona through self-deprecation, he robs others of the ability to ridicule him and maintains a state of social invisibility. Within the sickroom, humour functions as a tactical necessity to manage conversational gaps and deflect the emotional weight of Rachel’s leukaemia. However, the study concludes that this shield eventually collapses. Rachel’s death exposes the limitations of irony, forcing a transition from defensive detachment to authentic mourning. Ultimately, the article demonstrates that while humour provides a fragile survival strategy, it cannot indefinitely bypass the necessity of emotional vulnerability.
S.Thaamarai, Dr. P. Kiruthika. “The Armour of Wit: Superiority Theory and the Defensive Functions of Humour in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.” The Criterion: An International Journal in English, vol. 17, no. 4, August 2026, pp. 341-357. DOI, https://doi.org/10.66376/criterion.v17.n4.20.
Open Access · CC BY 4.0 · Crossref DOI ·
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