In John Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck conveys the main themes, isolation, loneliness, and insecurity through many characters. One of the characters who best embody the theme(s) is Candy. Candy is an old, disabled, isolated, unhappy, lonely, insecure, swamper. Candy's loneliness is greatly attributed to the loss of his hand and his age. He believes he is a worthless old man who, like his old dog, is just wasting away. Candy also offers much symbolism and parallelism to a few characters in the novel. Steinbeck also develops the character of Candy very well using characterization. Symbolism and foreshadowing are also used widely throughout the novel. Candy, an old, useless swamper exemplifies the main themes of this novel.
             Steinbeck uses characterization to build up the description of Candy so well that the reader feels the isolation and loneliness of which Candy experiences everyday. Candy is an old, physically disabled swamper who has worked on the ranch for a good majority of his life. While working on the ranch a few years ago, Candy got into an accident which resulted in the loss of one of his hands. This unfortunate accident left him a little bit of money and whole lot of loneliness. As a result of Candy's age and disability he has a feeling of uselessness. Since Candy feels that he is old, he places himself in a state of mind that disables him more than his missing hand ever will. A old worthless man wasting away his last few years is how Candy sees himself. He is often afraid of losing his job, as well as his whole life. "I got hurt four years ago. They'll can me purty soon. Jus' as soon as I can't swamp out no bunk houses they'll put me on the county."
             Candy, in many ways symbolizes his dog. Both Candy and his dog are very old and they are both coming towards the end of their lives. In their younger years, Candy and his dog were excellent workers. Candy loves his dog w...