William declares to Malicorne, "When you're standing at the bottom of the ladder like we are, nobody can tell you what to do anymore." She does not buy into his assertion, which sounds more like an excuse to avoid trying to improve his life than it sounds like a rationale for why he and others live their shallow, unhappy lives in the part of town no one with money would care to visit. But his remark captures some of the tone of "Seven for a Secret," which concerns how confessing one's life to another can yield spiritual healing, which in turn can become motivation to take action.

William himself finds a job as a custodian for a tenement, which pays him nothing but provides him with a room to live in, and tenants tip him for his work, so he has some money.

Given how bleak...