Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
In literature, the color white is often used to symbolize cleanness and purity. In "The Gilded Six-Bits," this color is first used to describe Joe and Missie's house:
The fence and house were whitewashed. The porch and steps scrubbed white. (2)
Hurston uses white to highlight the newness of their marriage, still unsoiled by jealousy, sickness, adultery or any other sin.
The color white is also used as a symbol of a haven or safe place, a reprieve from the rest of the world—their house. For Joe, it's where he finds his happiness:
That was the best part of life—going home to Missie May. Their whitewashed house, the mock battle on Saturday, the dinner and ice cream parlor afterwards, church on Sunday nights when Missie out dressed any woman in town—all, everything, was right. (64)
Unfortunately for Joe, trouble in paradise lurks on the horizon.