Dear Evan Han Analysis

The new Broadway musical, Dear Evan Hansen, with music written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, brings people a message of friendship, acceptance, and other valuable life lessons despite the deepest heartbreak. Through powerful words in the form of catchy showtunes, Pasek and Paul teach many morals through the story of socially anxious high school senior, Evan Hansen. Artistic greatness inspires an emotional connection which is exactly what Pasek and Paul do through their music in Dear Evan Hansen. The songs, although cheery sounding, have an influential, emotional message. Disappear is an act one song sung after the suicide of Evan’s classmate Connor. Evan and other classmates sing, “No one deserved to be forgotten[…] no one deserves to disappear” (Disappear). For me, this song mirrors the days at school after my classmate Aaron died in a similar fashion. Instead of joining in song, my classmates lined the halls with sticky notes echoing words much similar to Pasek and Paul’s Disappear. In both instances, students banded together to form emotional connections with one another and help everyone feel like they aren’t forgotten and that they won’t disappear. Through Connor’s death, Evan learns that no one should disappear like Connor felt he had and Evan felt he was going to. Through Connor’s father and a
Rather than focus on the gloomy and lonely lives people live, they focus on how people can grow and come together in times like this. The artists also inspire intense emotions through their music. Emotions create effective works of art. This musical has a beautiful message that everyone needs to hear and has touched me this year as I have faced the same feelings as Evan and many other high school students who feel as though they are “on the outside always looking in” (Waving Through a