Chuck and Li-Young Lee have no idea who they are. The two are similar characters from two different books by two different authors; but they are looking for the same thing: an identity and what space do they occupy? Chuck identifies with the New York scene and the type of people who live there, but has no space or identity of his own, just as Lee doesn't know who he is and must delve into meta-poetics to find your space and your identity. Both are lost in a fog of confusion and must look very carefully both within themselves, as well as their friends, their family, their heritage and the history that surrounds their lives. This article will examine the historical and ethnic conflicts of the characters and how they manage to reconcile their space and identity in a foreign country facing these problems. Some of these problems arise from distorted information and initial biases while others arise from a lack of personal information and the construction of one's past, history and personal perception of themselves occupying a space. At the beginning of the text, Chuck identifies with his New York. “identity” as well as being a “Renaissance man” rather than having a named identity (Naqvi, 1). He notices forced identities that he is not a part of or had been a part of before; “We would have become Japanese, Jews, Negroes. We were not before” (Naqvi, 1). Chuck notices that these identities and this space are created; he feels a kind of forced inclusion in a space that did not exist before. It's not apparent at first, but Chuck has a severed connection to his heritage when he thinks about what food to eat: "eating homemade food, comfort food, alone made me shiver" (Naqvi, 32 years old). He can't even bring himself to eat the food he grew up eating. This is further reinforced by the fact that he does not continue... middle of paper ....... But he wants to accept the American identity as well, but "its sensual and salient actuality, punctuating the void from from which such hunger arises and from which it proceeds” (Lee, 84). Through his acceptance of his East Asian identity, his soul is "cracked so that the soul can be restored." His soul is divided, but on his own initiative he must accept his severed identity, embrace it and accept it. Although both characters come to find their identity and space, historical and ethnic struggles haunt them and follow them along the way. Neither character is accepted in American culture and must identify with others in their position. This causes a lot of grief and sudden shock for the character. But with perseverance, these characters find their identity; although it wasn't what they might have expected or what they originally wanted, they became part of something that would accept them.