-Candy is the ranch gossip; he tells George and Lennie about Curley keeping one hand 'soft for his wife'; the gossipy nature, though believable, is also a narrative device; through Candy's gossip the reader leanrs about other characters in the novel; Steinbeck uses Candy to inform the reader about the other characters in a small space of time.
-The reader learns lots about ranch life and the other characters through Candy's gossip; Candy is like a 'chorus' in a Greek play; filling in all the details.