A hopelessly hopeful drifter, a bitter young woman, and a helpless child live on the docks, spending their days in poverty and listless wandering. Overhead, a dredge hauls up mud and trash from the nearby seabed — the same mud and trash from the day before. They finally decide to leave for the city to seek fulfillment, only to encounter further privation, destitution, temptation.

Harold is a bookkeeper who works in an office but can't keep his mind on his job -- the spring weather is too nice to stay indoors. After escaping from his office he romps in the park instead.