In Dreams Begin Responsibilities

The story draws on the details of Schwartz’s life; for example, his mother was named Rose and his parents’ marriage was troubled. How does this autobiographical context affect the story’s meaning?

In the dream, what does the narrator’s forced passivity suggest about his real-life familial role?

Does the story have a clear antagonist? Why or why not?

In the story, identify moments that implicate the concept of the American Dream. What does the story suggest about its societal role and importance?

When the father proposes to the mother, he resents that her response is not “as he thought it would be”—even though she accepts his proposal with great emotion. What does her actual response, and his resentment, imply about their relationship?

Schwartz’s fiction and poetry are considered an influence on “confessional” writing, which typically deals with personal and family conflict, trauma, and emotional extremes. What elements make this story feel “confessional”? Cite specific examples.

The couple’s unhappiness in the photographer’s and fortune-teller’s booths reflects their anxiety about the present and future. In what other ways does the story comment on the passage of time? On the narrator’s own anxieties about past, present, and future?

Consider the usher’s warning that “‘everything you do matters too much’” (Paragraph 19)? If the narrator’s dream holds a lesson, what is the lesson?