How we cite our quotes: (paragraph)
Quote #1
Soapy's mind became cognisant of the fact that the time had come for him to resolve himself into a singular Committee of Ways and Means to provide against the coming rigour. And therefore he moved uneasily on his bench. (3)
When we first meet Soapy his goal is pretty basic: find a place to stay warm and fed through the winter. Calling himself a one-man "ways and means committee" is ironic because such committees are usually formed to figure out how to accomplish really big goals that will likely impact many people.
Quote #2
Soapy, having decided to go to the Island, at once set about accomplishing his desire. There were many easy ways of doing this. (6)
Now it gets really funny—of all the ways to accomplish his goal, Soapy picks getting arrested. The island he's talking about is Blackwell's Island, which back then was home to the main penitentiary in the area.
Quote #3
[…] every bed of charity must have its toll of a bath, every loaf of bread its compensation of a private and personal inquisition. Wherefore it is better to be a guest of the law, which though conducted by rules, does not meddle unduly with a gentleman's private affairs. (5)
Soapy seems to be looking for the way to live that gives him the least humiliation and the most privacy. But he limits his choices between jail and charity. According to Soapy, charity isn't free—he will have to exchange certain freedoms he's not willing to sacrifice in order to get it. This passage might also reflect a difference between the early 1900s, when the story takes place, and the early 2000s. In the 2000s going to jail would mean sacrificing privacy and probably dignity as well. Or, maybe Soapy is minimizing the discomfort of jail.
Quote #4
And the anthem that the organist played cemented Soapy to the iron fence, for he had known it well in the days when his life contained such things as mothers and roses and ambitions and friends and immaculate thoughts and collars. (41)
The key word as far as this theme is concerned is "ambitions." For the first time we see that Soapy used to have bigger goals than survival.
Quote #5
He viewed with swift horror the pit into which he had tumbled, the degraded days, unworthy desires, dead hopes, wrecked faculties, and base motives that made up his existence. (42)
To some degree or other, Soapy's goals and motivations led him to the place he is today, a place he suddenly finds horrifying. His goal of getting thrown in jail suddenly seems really awful.
Quote #6
An instantaneous and strong impulse moved him to battle with his desperate fate. He would pull himself out of the mire; he would make a man of himself again; he would conquer the evil that had taken possession of him. There was time; he was comparatively young yet; he would resurrect his old eager ambitions and pursue them without faltering. (43)
It won't be easy for Soapy to change—he speaks of battle, and evil. But now that Soapy has better goals and plans he'll have a decent chance anyway.