Dear Evan Hansen is a critically acclaimed musical about an anxious high school student named Evan, who feels very alone. Quotes will be lyrics from the musical. In this character analysis, I will focus on the significance of Evan’s broken arm, certain songs and lyrics, and his progression through the course of the story. *SPOILERS for Dear Evan Hansen*

When the musical begins, Evan is writing a letter to himself as an assignment from his therapist. However, what is supposed to be a self pep talk turns into anxious ramblings. It’s clear that Evan has a very hard time talking to other people. Evan’s mother comes in and the awkward conversation that follows shows the emotional distance the two have. At school, Evan begins to make a small connection to another student named Connor. That is, until Connor finds one of Evan’s more somber pep talk letters that mentions Connor’s sister, who is Evan’s crush. Connor freaks out, takes the letter, and leaves. Three days later, it’s revealed that Connor committed suicide. Connor’s family discovers the letter with Connor, mistake it as a suicide note, and think that he and Evan were close friends.

At this point, I should mention that Evan has a broken arm. This fact does not seem important at first, but it’s actually one of the main aspects of the musical, and every time it comes up, a new layer is added to Evan’s character. When his family friend Jared asks about his arm, Evan tells him that he fell out a tree, but he stayed on the ground for ten minutes afterwards, waiting for someone to get him. This is played off as funny at the time, (by Evan himself) but it soon becomes a lot more somber.

“When you’re falling in a forest, and there’s nobody around, do you ever really crash or even make a sound.”

Not wanting to hurt Connor’s parents, Evan visits them and plans to pretend that he knew Connor, nodding and confirming to any questions. Eventually, he makes up a time when he and Connor hung out at an apple orchard. Something specific he says is that he broke his arm, and Connor was there for him. This highlights Evan’s desire for having someone to rely on. He feels alone, and it begins to be more about Evan wishing he was friends with Connor, or anyone, rather than just making it up to help Connor’s parents.

“I’m on the ground. My arm goes numb, I look around, and I see him come to get me. He’s come to get me, and everything’s okay,”

The next time Evan’s arm comes up is when he’s giving a speech about Connor and feeling alone. This is meant to be the peak in Evan’s development as a character, doing a speech in front of an entire assembly. The speech comes in the form of the song, “You will be Found”. Basically the entire song revolves around Connor being there for Evan when he broke his arm, and that everyone has someone who will be here for them. The significance of Evan’s broken arm is finally revealed when Evan says that he didn’t actually fall out of the fall, but he let go... On purpose. This fact makes Evan’s desire for someone to be there much more impactful. Evan not only felt alone because no one helped him when he broke his arm, but Evan felt truly alone. He felt like he didn’t matter, and that no one would care if he just... let go. Evan desperately wished he had someone, which is why he kept up the lie about know Connor for so long. He wanted it so badly to be true. This is made clear in the song, “Words Fail”

“This was just a sad invention

It wasn't real, I know

But we were happy

I guess I couldn't let that go

I guess I couldn't give that up

I guess I wanted to believe

'Cause if I just believe

Then I don't have to see what's really there”

One thing I really appreciate about how the story is handled is Evan’s motives. Normally in this type of main character lies about a misunderstanding story, popularity is usually what drives them. Even if that’s not how it started out (but it usually is) it always ends up going to their head. Evan never did it for popularity, but instead, it was to help Connor’s family. Eventually, his motives did become twisted, but instead of keeping up the lie to be popular, he literally pretended it was true because he wanted it to be. He needed it to be. For once in his life, Evan didn’t feel alone. Connor’s family welcomed him like a son. People finally wanted him. Another thing is that he isn’t caught in his lie like most similar stories, but he sees how his lie is wrong, and admits it himself. Seriously, the song, “Words Fail” is so amazing, because it gives Evan’s entire motivation for his actions, and shows how much he’s hurting. By the time the song has ended, Evan is alone once again. Connor’s family is furious and hurt, as they should be. However, Evan finds comfort in a place he never expected. His mother.

This is so powerful because Evan has said throughout the entire story that his mother is never there for him. She works all of the time and it’s stated that being with Connor’s family was the first time he felt like he wasn’t alone. But when Evan has lost everything, the one person who would truly still be there, who wouldn’t abandon him no matter what, is Evan’s mother. That’s why in the song, “So Big/So Small”, it brings up the time when Evan was a child. His father left, and child Evan was worried that his mom would leave too. She took his hand, and says that she’ll never leave him. This is meant to be a parallel to the present. Evan’s mom has a true unconditional love for her son, and will NEVER stop loving him or leave him. It’s hard to convey the emotional impact this can have on a person. Feeling so alone, and finding out that there IS someone in your life you can rely on. Evan spent the entire story pretending that he had someone, and only when everything fell apart did Evan see what was really there. He didn’t have to pretend.

There is an important message that’s being conveyed here. The main one is that we are never alone. It’s so tempting to just think that you have no one, or construct a fictional life that seems better than the one you have, but sometimes there are people in our own lives that we can’t see how much they care, and will be there for you. It’s true that none of us are alone. You say your family doesn’t care? There’s a good chance that you just need to look deeper. Trust me, my own family isn’t always the best support system, and it’s easy to say they don’t care, but family is often where you find true unconditional love, even if it’s hard to show. If you actually have a harmful or toxic relationship with your family, there will always be other people. Friends, neighbors, a therapist, online friends. I know it’s hard to believe, because it’s when you feel truly alone that it’s hard to see that people care, but I think if you look hard enough, you’ll be able to find something to hold onto.

So yeah, didn’t expect to become so emotional writing this, but I guess it’s just well, maybe there’s someone out there who needed to here this. If you can’t find anyone right now, or need someone to talk to, I’m available.