In the short play, "This Property is Condemned," Tennessee Williams presents a dramatic tale of a lost, young girl named Willie. Poor Willie has been living alone in an old, condemned house because her parents abandoned her and her sister passed away. The story begins with Willie walking along a railroad when suddenly a young boy named Tom begins to talk to her. Tom asks her questions that reveal the mourning hidden behind a facade of smiles, tenacity, and wild makeup. As the the conversation progresses, readers learn the depth of her strife in a way that the two children probably cannot understand. The dialogue is filled with a darkness wrapped in childlike obliviousness. The author uses the setting and characterization to depict a dramatic loss and Willie`s urge to cling to her innocence. The author sets a dreary atmosphere by using the setting to symbolize Willie's hidden anguish. At first, readers might assume that the story will be light and friendly because it shows two children playing and chatting. However, the dark undertone of the setting foreshadows a much more tragic story. The introduction sets a dreary mood by describing bleak skies and a large, yellow, tragic house (1083). Further, the children's only company are "crows [that] occasionally make a sounds of roughly torn cloth  (1083). With this, readers begin to wonder why the mood is so dark. As the story progresses, however, the reason becomes apparent. Poor Willie is abandoned and scrounging for food in the trash. As Willie eats one of these treasured meals from the garbage, she walks along a railroad and shares her story. The entire play takes place as Willie walks along this railroad, and readers are left to speculate what the railroad tracks may signify to Willie. In literature, train travel often symbolizes a journey towards self-discovery (Zabel 8). Just how the train proceeds forward, Willie trudges on in hopes of a brighter future. Willie is depicted as a