83 pages • 2 hours read
Val EmmichDear Evan Hansen
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2018A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 13-16Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 13 Summary
At school four days later, Evan cannot stop thinking about kissing Zoe. Alana Beck approaches him and states that people are moving on from Connor’s death; she’s found buttons with Connor’s name left around the school. She implores Evan to do something to make sure people don’t forget about him. Evan refuses at first, thinking he’s not qualified. However, even though he knows he wasn’t as close to Connor as his classmates believe he was, he suspects he’s the only person who had a genuine interaction with him the day he died: “We had an authentic exchange. For guys like Connor and me, that type of interaction is rare, and it definitely forged a bond between us. I’m probably the only one who had any clue how he was truly feeling that day” (172). At home, Evan is inspired by a documentary about photographer Vivian Maier made by the man who discovered her work: “He just cared enough to do something. He made it his mission to make sure that the world appreciated Vivian Maier” (176).
Chapter 14 Summary
Evan devises a plan to keep Connor’s memory alive: The Connor Project, “a student group dedicated to keeping Connor’s memory alive and showing that he...mattered. That everyone matters” (179). When he tells Alana, she nominates herself to be vice president. Jared joins to assist with technology. They ask the Murphys for their permission, and they are touched by the idea. Mr. Murphy says, “I didn’t realize Connor meant this much to people” (185).
After Alana and Jared leave, Mrs. Murphy takes Evan up to Connor’s room. She hands him a tie she purchased for Connor in seventh grade to wear to his classmates’ bar mitzvahs, but the tie was never worn because was not invited to a single one. She gives it to Evan hoping he will wear it for his speech at the Connor Project memorial assembly for Connor, but Evan tries to excuse himself from making a speech by saying he has a fear of public speaking.
Mrs. Murphy leaves, and Zoe enters to Connor’s room. She confronts Evan about kissing her the other day. Evan apologizes, and she forgives him. She tells him that her parents love Evan, and that having him around makes them feel like Connor is still around, but in a different way than they remember him. Evan says, “That’s what happens when people leave, I think. When they’re gone, you don’t have to be reminded of all the bad things. They can just stay the way you want them forever. Perfect” (190).
In Part IV of his narrative, Connor surveys the scene at the Connor Project kickoff ceremony. He overhears the loudspeaker announcing the next presenter is “Connor’s best friend” (192). For a moment Connor is excited, thinking it might be the unnamed friend he reached out to on his final day. Instead, Evan steps up to the microphone and fumbles through a speech about Connor that day at the apple orchard.
Chapter 15 Summary
Chapter 15 picks up the day of the ceremony, this time from Evan’s perspective. After dropping his cards, Evan struggles to get the words out but is finally able to tell the crowd the impact his “friendship” with Connor had on him: “That’s the gift that he gave me...to show me that I wasn’t alone. To show me that I matter” (196). Panicking, Evan runs off the stage before he can finish the speech.
In Part V of Connor’s perspective, Connor is confused by the ceremony and Evan’s speech; he cannot reconcile what Evan said with the fact that he and Evan were never actually friends. He wishes the speaker had been his (still unknown) friend:
“That’s the fucked-up part about this speech. It would’ve really meant something coming from a true friend. He should have been the one standing up there, saying those words. Because for him, I actually did show up. For him, I risked it all” (199).
Chapter 16 Summary
The day after the ceremony, Evan tries to forget about his speech. Alana calls him to say a video of his speech went viral, and now their page has 4,000 followers. He reads the comments on the video and sees how much his words about Connor have impacted people, even people he has never met before and who don’t know Connor. He states, “It’s true. My speech is everywhere. And not just that. People like it. They really like it” (207).
Zoe comes to his house. Tearfully, she cries, “Everything you said in your speech. Everything you’ve done for all of us, everyone. My family. Me” (208). She kisses Evan, then thanks him before walking away.
Chapters 13-16 Analysis
In Chapters 13-16, Evan receives the attention and popularity he has always dreamed of at school. As word spreads that he and Connor were supposedly friends, classmates he has never spoken with say hi to him. This popularity grows to overwhelming heights when a video of the speech goes viral, and suddenly even strangers from all over the country know his name. However, Evan knows that underneath it all the attention is rooted in a web of lies. Nonetheless, his confidence grows and his anxiety subsides.
Meanwhile, Evan becomes closer with the Murphys. In Chapter 14 Mrs. Murphy hands Evan a tie that once belonged to Connor, though he never had the chance to wear it. This gesture of her gratitude for what Evan has done for them also illustrates how she is processing her grief for Connor. She is ready to let this part of her son go and see new life with someone else. It also signifies that she sees Evan as a stand-in for Connor now that he is gone. They both fill a void in the other’s life: Evan wishes for a mother who sees him as a whole person, and Mrs. Murphy wants to see the dreams she had for her son live on.
The day of the speech, both Connor and Evan feel surprised by how the words make them feel. Despite being made up, they still ring true. Perhaps Connor didn’t need to have been friends with Evan to impact his life, though it might be awhile before Evan sees how. Still, Connor’s references to an unnamed friend underscore the depths of Evan’s lies while further illustrating how some people harbor deeply held secrets.
Similarly, when Zoe approaches Evan in Connor’s room before dinner, Evan tells her that after someone is gone, we have the freedom to remember them in a different light. In other words, sometimes we can learn from the good parts of a person’s personality when we are no longer affected by the bad parts. Though Evan is helping the Murphys process their grief through a false image of their son, Evan’s comment to Zoe, coupled with his own newfound confidence, foreshadows that both may find what they’re looking for in the end.
