The narrator is a 21-year-old young man who spends the story trapped in a dream, watching a silent black-and-white movie of his parents' 1909 courtship. He views the unfolding events with intense anxiety. He frequently breaks down into tears and shouts at the theater screen as the date progresses from Brooklyn to Coney Island. He firmly believes the engagement will lead to disaster and deeply regrets the circumstances of his family history.

The narrator's father is an ambitious young businessman with bright career prospects who walks to Brooklyn to pick up his date. He boasts about his income and desires to become as successful as the prominent men of his era. During his Coney Island outing, his arrogance and impatience surface frequently. He experiences intense panic when contemplating the reality of marriage and his future responsibilities.

Rose is a young woman living in Brooklyn in 1909 who enjoys reading novels and holds strong opinions about health and nutrition. She is sensible about money and initially resists dining at an expensive restaurant until her suitor insists. She feels deep romantic affection for him and eagerly desires to start a family. Her passionate nature occasionally blinds her to the warning signs of his temper.

The old lady exists entirely within the narrator's dream world, sitting beside him during the silent movie screening. She initially reacts with hostility to his weeping but soon shifts to offering practical comfort. Acting as a maternal figure, she gently reminds him that the events on screen are not real and warns him about the financial cost of getting kicked out.

The usher is a theater employee in the narrator's dream who handles disruptive patrons in the cinema. He functions as a figure of authority and a voice of mature restraint when the young man loses control. The usher delivers harsh but necessary advice about self-control, reminding the narrator that his actions carry weight and real-world consequences.

The narrator's grandfather is Rose's father. He observes her young suitor with a cool, prescient eye when he arrives at the Brooklyn house. While acknowledging the young man's impressive qualities, he accurately assesses him as awkward and fears he will not make a good husband for his daughter.

Working at Coney Island around 1909, the photographer operates an elaborate camera in a boardwalk booth. He struggles to get the newly engaged couple to strike a satisfactory pose. This frustrating process brings the couple's hidden resentments to the surface.

The fortune-teller operates a boardwalk booth that sparks a major argument between the newly engaged couple. When the young man furiously abandons the session, she steps in to physically restrain Rose from chasing after him.