COMPANIONSHIP AND CONTRAST: AN ANALYSIS OF GEORGE AND LENNIE IN STEINBECK’S OF MICE AND MEN

Abstract

John Steinbeck’s celebrated novella, Of Mice and Men (1937), immerses readers in the harsh world of Depression-era migrant labour, where the poignant bond between George Milton and Lennie Small stands in stark contrast to the pervasive loneliness of the time. Critical discussions have extensively covered the work’s themes—isolation, masculinity, the elusive American Dream. Yet, what has received less focused attention is a systematic, side-by-side analysis of the two central characters themselves. This study aims to fill that gap by applying a structured analytical tool: the FRAN framework, which examines the dimensions of Feelings, Relationship, Actions, and Nature. A close reading through this lens reveals that Steinbeck crafts George and Lennie not merely as opposites but as complementary halves of a whole. Their interconnection embodies essential human contradictions: reason and instinct, autonomy and need, power and fragility. Ultimately, Steinbeck leverages their interdependent bond to deliver a dual critique—one of a brutal socioeconomic system, and another that affirms companionship and shared meaning as fundamental human necessities. The FRAN framework, therefore, proves its utility as a practical model for methodical character study in literary analysis.