Oswald's shirt

For my final English class blog, I thought I would go off the deep end and talk about something pretty ridiculous. Every time I took out Libra during class, I saw Oswald's white shirt on the cover. 

Before I get into his shirt, it's no secret that I think Oswald is pretty stupid. His attitude is beyond dumb, his God complex is off the charts, and his whole personality and morals need an upgrade. He tries to come off as mysterious and smarter than everyone around him, but it's total bullshit. Plus his little "smirk" -- or whatever you want to call it -- is just the cherry on top of his stupidity.

So what's the connection to his shirt? When I think of the color white I connect it to two different motifs: pureness and surrender. When Oswald shot JFK, he was wearing a white shirt and many of his most famous pictures are of him in that shirt. Like an angel that wears white, Oswald thinks his actions are all just and he is the most righteous and amazing person in the world. We can argue over whether Oswald truly supported shooting JFK or not and whether he worked alone or not, but the fact of the matter is he was somehow fully compelled into thinking that this was the right course of action.

As much as I argue that he's stupid, I think part of him must have known that to gain the fame he wanted, he would have to do something so insanely daring that he would never be able to escape it. Like hmm... shoot a president?? As much as he may or may not have supported shooting the president, this one action was also a surrender of every other aspect of his life. There was no going back from this. 

So, what am I trying to say? Simply, his white shirt simultaneously represented the moral superiority he thought he possessed and the surrender of his life he had to accept.

I know this whole line of thought is super silly so please don't take it seriously (I definitely don't). Moral of my story is pretty much: I hate Oswald and think he's a total douchy dumbass. I guess in some respects, Oswald got exactly what he wanted: everlasting fame and notoriety. Props to him for that I guess, but I will never feel sympathetic for this weird guy.

Comments

  1. AnuprovaMay 28, 2022 at 12:21 PM

    Hi Lara! I completely agree with your analysis of Oswald - at the end of the day, he was a guy who thought he was better than everyone else and was desperate to show the world this. I think that your observation of the color of Oswald's shirt is really interesting and makes sense. As readers, we know that Oswald's decisions are usually deliberate, so I wouldn't be surprised if he wore the white shirt to represent his "pureness", thinking of himself as an angel. Great post!

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  2. Ethan RobertsJune 1, 2022 at 11:44 AM

    Hi Lara. While I probably don't agree that Lee intentionally wore a white shirt to represent his pureness and moral superiority, I agree with your line of thinking. Oswald was for sure an arrogant and self righteous person, and he likes to believe he acts very rationally and deliberately, but white shirts are pretty common. I think it's more likely a coincidence that he wore a white shirt.

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