Oskar receives a T-Shirt from Ringo: "I didn't like the enclosed T-shirt. I loved it! Although unfortunately it wasn't white, so I couldn't wear it." (40)
"Even though Dad's coffin was empty, his closet was full. And even after more then a year, it still smelt like shaving. I touched all of his white T-shirts." (36)
"Grandma knitted me white sweaters, white mittens, and white hats." (104)
“I should have drowned us there in the room, ended our suffering, they would have found us floating face-down in two thousand white pages, or buried under the salt of my evaporated tears…” (124)
"That night, i put on my white gloves, went to the garbage can in Dad's closet[...]" (p.41)
"I was watching the television and knitting you a white scarf."(224)
"I only wear white clothes"(3)
This is interesting because it illustrates that there are so many ways to interpret white and the definitions are sometimes contradicting.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/white
Pages 60 and 61 display New York City with Central Park covered in a white void. Oskar's adventure provided by his father started with a map of Central Park. Oskar searched the area but was unable to solve the puzzle. The white over the park could represent a clean slate - Oskar has found these new clues, and he's ready to move on ahead. He is starting over. It could also represent a void. He is lost and confused. He is not sure where to start and does not know how to advance further in his situation.
On pages 47-49 on the pages that people had written on I found it wierd that Jonathan Safran Foer didn't include "white" anywhere on the page or that he used the name Black on the envelope the opposite of white.
The color black is often associated with death. However, in Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese cultures, white is actually the color of mourning. This goes to show how many ways Oskar's habit of wearing only white can be interpreted.
All of the pictures in the book are in black and white, are they like that for a specific reason?
I think the color white shows oscars naivete and purity.
I think Oskar wearing white symbolizes purity and it identifies him as a blank canvas, just like the picture of central park whited out on pg. 60
Links:
memories of his father White symbolizes the remembrance of Oskar's father.
The White is also linked to Oskar's grandmother because she is the one who knits all of the white clothing for him.
I think the re-ocurring symbol of the color white is especially special in this book because it shows that Oskar is mourning for his father's death (obviously) and instead of being like normal people who are depressed and wear black he is switching to the complete opposite.