A common theme across ‘The Other Man’ and ‘War Years’, was the character’s appearance revealing insecurities of their past life. For example, when Liem said, “He was sorely lacking in just about every regard. Even the yellowness of his teeth was more evident next to the whiteness of Marcus” (25). In this quote, you can tell that Liem has some jealousy toward Marcus for having whiter teeth. For Leim, whiter teeth were a sign that a person belonged in the US and yellow teeth were a reminder of his past life in another country. In The War Years, Mrs. Hoa’s appearance also reveals something about her past “... her bent head revealing a furrow of white roots running through her scalp, where the hair’s natural color revealed itself along a receding tide of black dye” (71). In this passage, we can tell that Mrs Hoa dyes her hair in order to hide her white hair. For Ms Hoa her white hair symbolizes her stress and sadness from her past life. Both Liem and Ms Hoa feel insecure about their appearance because they prove that they are outsiders in their new country.