Analysis / Dear Evan Hansen

Evan's clothes

When you thoroughly examine the attire that our eponymous protagonist wears throughout Dear Evan Hansen, all of them hold a sense of meaning in each scene. This is because it all comes down to one key factor: color motifs that symbolize Evan's state of mind. In each folder, there will be two parts: the context of the outfits, and the explanation for these artistic choices.

A false self-reflection (Beginning)

♫ I've learnt to slam on the brake
Before I even turn the key
Before I make the mistake
Before I lead with the worst of me. ♫

Context: Act One introduces us to Evan Hansen, a high-school student with his left arm in a cast. He broke his arm when he fell out of a tree. At this moment, he types a self-improvement letter, believing that today will be an amazing day, before rambling about all the minor details of one's personality to be recognized, like being "confident" and "approachable". He even recounts a botched meeting with the girl of his dreams, Zoe, after her jazz band performance. That should tell you everything about who Evan is.
After his mother Heidi fails to raise his hopes for the school year and after he fails to get signatures on his cast from acquaintances Alana, Jared and Zoe, Evan sings his "I Want" Song, "Waving Through a Window", where he expresses his desires of wanting to belong and have meaningful friendships. After he finishes singing, he returns to his self-improvement letter, which becomes more of a self-deprecating letter that is accidentally taken by Connor and mistaken as the latter's suicide note by his parents.

As a result, Evan begrudgingly accepts the lie. This leads into dinner with Connor's parents, Larry and Cynthia, and their daughter, Zoe, where he sings "For Forever" as a happy, imaginary day of Evan and Connor spending time at an apple orchard. It also causes him to humorously creates fake secret emails between Connor and him, with the help of Jared ("Sincerely, Me"). Luckily, the parents accept the letters.

Examination: The first thing you'll discover is that Evan is wearing a blue-collared shirt. This has subdued, different shades of that color, which include:

• Aqua blue, which is the dominant color. From this, Evan is kind-hearted, when one looks past his social anxiety that renders him unable to properly communicate with other people. He actually wants to make new friends in anyway possible.
• Fat, faded black stripes. They highlight the immorality of the lie that Evan has caught himself in, as he was never friends with Connor, and Connor was never the person that Evan and Jared depict him as: 100% intent on improving himself, or kind on the outside.
• However, the most interesting factor is the second pair of stripes other than the aforementioned fat, black ones. They consist of four thin lines, and one slightly bolder line. Referring to the previous point, the fatter stripe is recognizable from afar, just like how a lie can easily be viewed as completely negative. But the thinner lines serve a purpose: they inform us on the possible good intentions of lies, as telling the truth sometimes can do more harm than good. The Murphys are starting to appreciate the more light-hearted portrayal of Connor, despite them not knowing that this is false.

Evan seeks romantic love

♫ He said, "There's nothing like your smile. Sort of subtle and perfect and real".
He said, "You never knew how wonderful that smile could make someone feel. ♫

Context: Evan talks to Alana online, where she reveals that Jared has told everyone at school about Evan's friendship with Connor. She deems it a good thing, because people are talking to each other more often, eager to know more about this deceased kid.

Their conversation is cut short as Heidi leaves for work, completely forgetting about her promised "Taco Tuesday" with him. This could have been the opportunity to go over essay questions. She repeatedly tries to make up for it, but Evan informs her that he will eat by himself. However, Evan secretly goes to the Murphys for dinner, where he converses with Zoe. From her, he discovers two things: her parents don't get along well with each other, and her mother repeatedly jumps from fad to fad to stave boredom.

This leads to Zoe asking why her brother singled her out in the letter. Evan decides to sing "If I Could Tell Her", disguising his true feelings for her as things Connor noticed about her, that made her a good sister. And then it goes to hell when he impulsively kisses her, and she leaves.

Explanation: During these scenes, Evan wears two shirts: a different light-blue collar shirt, as well as a navy shirt underneath. Firstly, the white checkered pattern that overlays the light-blue on his collared shirt highlights the progress Evan makes when he speaks to Zoe. It isn't a fleeting chat like the one during "Waving Through a Window", but rather, a deep conversation where he gets to understand more about her. However, the other shirt's darker color is a logical progression of how deep Evan is in the lie: not only is he deluding Zoe with an idealized version of Connor as an Aloof Big Brother, he now makes visits to the Murphys for dinner instead of cooking for himself. He is becoming more dependent on the Murphys, just to receive attention.

The Connor Project

♫ Have you ever felt like nobody was there?
Have you ever felt forgotten in the middle of nowhere?
Have you ever felt like you could disappear?
Like you could fall, and no one would hear? ♫

Context: Talking to Jared and Alana online, Evan discovers that the former has been profiting from Connor's death, and the latter is attempting to drum up interest about Connor in the general public, as Connor was forgotten after two weeks. After unsuccessfully attempting to brainstorm some new ideas for Alana, Connor appears and urges Evan to keep his memory alive, citing that he and Evan are similar in many ways. ("Disappear").

This leads Evan, Alana, and Jared to create the Connor Project, an organization that is dedicated to preaching the virtues of belonging and friendship, something that Connor couldn't accept. An online website, a Kickstarter campaign and an all-school memorial assembly are some of the initiatives that the trio propose, to the Murphy's delight. Before the assembly, Cynthia suggests Evan perform a speech, despite the latter's protests.

On the day of the assembly, Evan initially struggles with his speech. He stutters profoundly while reading his note cards. After losing his place and accidentally dropping them, Evan has a realization. He forgoes this visual aid and begins "You Will Be Found", where he asks for those who feel alone to communicate with loved ones and close friends for guidance, as helping hands can be easily extended. His speech goes viral, and is welcomed with unanimous praise by the social media community. As a bonus, Larry finally lets out his subdued grief towards his deceased son.

Explanation: This outfit isn't different than the one he wore while serenading Zoe; this time, the buttons are up. With this change, the dark-blue shirt cannot be seen, and as a result, the white checkered pattern and the light-blue color play a new role. They convey the utter good that Evan has made for not only Connor's family, but also for the general public, as loners are opening up, and ordinary people are inspired by Evan's speech, and as such, will hold on to the ideals of conquering loneliness. Alternatively, the aforementioned pattern is essentially like multiple windows: now opening up by others so that they can give assistance to those who need it dearly. The tie that he wears for the speech should also be commented upon: it has stripes of brown and very light blue, which represent Evan's state of mind. Brown is the crippling social anxiety that Evan almost succumbs to, while the light-blue is the inner confidence Evan finds in finishing his speech with the most important message: You Are Not Alone.

Winning over Zoe

Zoe: You've given me my brother back.

Context: The shortest entry yet, as this appears only at the end of "You Will Be Found". Zoe has seen all the positive feedback on the media about Evan's speech, and thanks him in person for allowing her to properly grieve for Connor, and to not ignore the possible positives in favor of the overwhelming negatives. She then kisses him, and after a brief hesitation, Evan reciprocates, ending Act One.

Explanation: A different collared shirt is worn, one that is black and has big, overlapping yellow and pink checkered patterns. For the patterns, the pink one is obvious: it's the achievement that Evan has been long striving for: making Zoe his girlfriend. And the yellow pattern outlines the triumphant victory Evan has scored, as this may be the happiest place we see him in the whole play (Although he is happy spending time with Larry and Zoe in Act Two's beginning, this came after an argument with his mother). But, these two patterns can be overlooked due to the overwhelming black. From the moment he locks lips with Zoe, his fate is sealed. This lie can only crash and burn, and he blew his only hope of telling the truth sooner, in his desire for love. The only question is when...

Trading one family for another

♫ The world falls away
The world falls away
And it's only us... ♫

Context: Act Two begins with Evan and Alana announcing a new Kickstarter fundraiser for the Connor Project, where $50,000 must be raised in three weeks to build a new orchard. After that, it's business as usual for Jared making the letters, but he soon begins to consider adding himself as one of Connor's friends. Evan stops him from doing that, causing Jared to express his distaste for Evan's newfound gains through thinly-veiled comments about Connor.

Heidi interrupts mid-conversation and wants to speak to Evan about his eulogy to Connor for the Connor Project. Evan lies to her about going to Jared's for a Spanish project, when he is really visiting the Murphys. But her desperation to miss class to talk to Evan, her concern regarding Evan's new group, and his lies about Connor being a friend of his combine to spark an argument with a brief tantrum. Controlling herself, she lets Evan go, where he begins to bond with Larry through a baseball glove ("To Break In a Glove"), and strengthens his romance with Zoe by focusing on her love for him, and not on the Connor Project ("Only Us").

This has unfortunate consequences, when Alana chastises Evan for ignoring his Connor Project responsibilities and reveals that she found contradictions in his emails with Connor; meanwhile, Jared is disappointed when Evan refuses to go with him to a liquor cabinet. He questions Evan's motives about building the orchard: is it for Connor or for Evan?

Explanation: In the opening minutes of Act Two, Evan is wearing a dark-green collared shirt, with thin white stripes. To begin with, the white stripes symbolizes the brief glimmers of peace Evan always tries to hold onto for a while: the fundraiser for the orchard, the new father figure he has found after his original father divorced, and the affections of a woman who understands and accepts him. In contrast, the dark green symbolizes that this newfound happiness is nothing more than a beautiful illusion, inflicting harm to his original teammates of the Connor Project, as well as his only family figure. This color also represents the disgust Evan feels towards his mother: only now does she decide to talk to him, and he feels that she should see him at least more than once. But as we see throughout the play, her pressed schedule holds her back from that, and that demand proves to be excessive in the process. During Evan's argument with his mother, he puts on a zip-up hoodie◊ that is very similar to Imaginary Connor's. It's intentions are very clear: to highlight how Evan has become more of a surrogate son to the Murphys, and how he is enjoying this newfound attention.

A mother's anger

Heidi: THEY'RE NOT YOUR PARENTS. THAT'S NOT YOUR FAMILY, EVAN!

Context: When Evan and Zoe go to the Murphys' house, Evan discovers to his horror that Heidi is "playing hooky" with Zoe's parents and that they are getting to know one another better. From their chat, she has found out to her chagrin that Evan has been lying to her about going to Jared's, when it was the Murphys' all along. As the five gather around, the tension is palpable. Evan fails to divert attention away from his lies regarding his visits, until the Murphys' offer Heidi an enticing proposition.

When Zoe found out about the multiple scholarships Heidi printed for Evan to fund future university studies, she told her family about them. They subsequently offer Heidi all the university money they saved for Connor, so that Evan can overcome his financial burdens. Heidi declines, clearly restraining her anger. When she and Evan are back at home, another argument ensues.

While she calls out Evan for lying to her about visiting the Murphys, Evan venomously fires back, believing she has never been a good mother, who disrespects him by forcing him to go to therapy and to take antidepressants. As she tries to justify her actions as necessary, Evan admits he feels that he's a "burden" who ruined her life. As the final straw, Heidi roars that Evan has always been important to her, and sarcastically apologizes for her previous actions. Evan then fires back that the Murphys have made him feel happier than Heidi ever did, causing her to launch into a "The Hero Sucks" Song, "Good for You".

Explanation: This outfit is nearly identical to the previous outfit, save for one change: the shirt. The collared shirt now has light-blue and dark-blue stripes. However, the difference between these colors are less pronounced, meaning that it's more like shades of blue. The mixture marks a period of sadness for Evan: gone is the secrecy of Evan's visits from his mother. Or the fragile, yet stable relationship between mother and son. Now, there is only the permeating sadness ensuing from the two's mindsets, erupting in a verbal battle to prove their own. This stands true for Evan, who lashes out at his remaining family member just to prove his crumbling sense of worth he has received from the Murphy family. And with this more angered attitude, Evan is growing to be like Connor: wanting to win even if others are hurt in the process.

The lie's negativity

♫ All the words that I can't take back
Like a train coming off the track
As the rails and the bolts all crack
I gotta find a way to stop it, stop it, just me out! ♫

Context: While the aforementioned song continues, Evan is confronted by Alana and Jared, who are all disappointed in their own ways. Alana is determined to find out why Connor killed herself, despite Evan writing that Connor was getting better. In the process, she reveals that she feels unacknowledged like Connor, hence her determination towards the Connor Project. Jared rebukes Evan's attempts to write more letters explaining why Connor became worse, finally confronting Evan on using him to make fake emails, betraying their friendship. When Evan challenges Jared's claims that they were real friends, the latter threatens to expose Evan's lies to everyone, even if that claim is rebuked in the process. However, the guilt of failing his friends still lingers, as Evan demands to find a way out of his hellhole.

Seeing that he has to end the lie, Imaginary Connor reappears to convince him otherwise. In the process, Connor gets Evan to confess that the real reason why he broke his arm was because he wanted to jump off that tree and commit suicide. That is enough to motivate Evan to attempt to rekindle his friendship with Alana, who is hell-bent on raising a remaining $17,000 for the orchard, and highly suspects Evan secretly backdated the emails. In desperation, Evan sends Alana his therapy letter, claiming it was Connor's suicide note. Unfortunately, this backfires. Alana posts it online; the social media community attacks the Murphys, accusing them of never giving their son the important care he needed so much. The ensuing internet backlash sends the Murphys into a blame game, arguing that the other was responsible for Connor's suicide.

With this argument having the potential to tear the Murphy family apart, Evan finally confesses that he lied about Connor's nature, justifying his immoral actions because he wanted to feel a sense of belonging in a caring family. Each member can only leave in disgust and sorrow, as Evan finally lets out his self-hatred and fears of rejection in a BSoD Song, "Words Fail". When he goes back home, Heidi has found out that Connor's "suicide note" is Evan's therapy letter, and realized the full scale of Evan's lie. He apologizes to her for everything he has put her through, while subtly implying that his fall from the tree wasn't an accident. Due to this, Heidi is able to calm Evan down with "So Big / So Small", detailing the day her husband left, and her continued determination to care for Evan in spite of this revelation.

Explanation: Once again, the outfit is the same from before, but the grey hoodie has been zipped up. The blues from his shirt cannot be seen, showing the logical conclusion for Evan's lie: from a socially anxious kid to a friend who now looks just like Connor, in the best and worst ways. On the one hand, he is able to do Connor's family proud by comforting them with heartwarming tales about their son, while he feels like he truly belongs in society. On the other hand, he has already blamed his original friends and family for never making him feel truly welcomed or happy in his life. And ironically, this change makes Evan's personality also resemble Connor's: isolated and not wanting anything to do with his family (Jared, Alana, Heidi), but holds a secret love for those he cherishes (Cynthia, Larry, Zoe).

A true self-reflection (End)

"Dear Evan Hansen, today is going to be a good day. And here's why- because today, no matter what else, um, today at least you're you. So, no hiding... no lying. Just you. And that's... that's enough."

Context: A year has passed since Evan ended the lie, but the past has not left yet. Evan and Zoe meet up at the new apple orchard built in Connor's memory, where they catch up. Evan has taken a year off, going to community college and taking a job at Pottery Barn to raise enough money for university. Zoe, on the other hand, is nearing the end of her exams. Other than that, Evan finds out that the Murphys kept the lie intact from everyone else, even if they never had to do that. Zoe justifies this as necessary, as the lie saved her parents' marriage. He has also committed himself to learn more about Connor by reading books from a "Top 10" list found in a yearbook.

Seeing that the other is happy, the two leave on amicable terms, not wanting to pursue a relationship again. As Book Ends, Evan writes a new self-improvement letter, where he believes today will be a good day, as he has learned to accept who he is, and to not rely on someone else in order to be seen ("Finale").

Explanation: His new outfit is radically different from his previous ones, with a black jacket and a white button-up shirt. The black is meant to convey the idea that some scars never healed, as Evan has lost a meaningful connection with the girl he sorely loved, and how he still believed he was worthy of punishment from lying to the Murphys. But the white is a whole new story, representing purity and new beginnings, something that Evan takes with stride. His Character Development can be seen from that bright color alone: he has finally gained independence, and made clear improvements in terms of socializing with people.

Note that there is an absence of blue, which was primarily dominant in most of his outfits. While they symbolized sadness or concealed happiness, this new shirt color leans heavily into the theme of change and renewal, something that Evan needed. He is not the socially anxious Evan from the past, or the Connor lookalike that he eventually became due to the lie. Rather, he is now a new Evan Hansen, nervous at times, but now on the hard, yet fulfilling road to becoming a better person.