On Little Terry Road, Ferriday is driven by addiction. This addiction drives her to Little Terry Road, which is declared to be “where you went if you wanted trouble” (Franklin 10). Often in literature, addiction can symbolize isolation, deception and despair, which could easily be argued to be a fair representation of Ferriday’s current state. Ferriday is seemingly alone, unable to depend on anyone else other than the narrator. She even claims that she had been forcing herself into isolation, away from him, to get sober. Her despair is a driving factor of how she got herself into danger, in which it drives her to try to get more substance.
Addiction can also be seen in Little Terry and Spike’s characters. As they are introduced, they are snorting a “yellow substance” (Franklin 3) and are known dealing various other drugs. It seems addiction is the only thing these characters share with Ferriday, as these two individuals are clear antagonists who are portrayed as menacing dealers who were fully prepared to take advantage of a young woman.
The clear division between these characters is that Ferriday is a victim, of not only addiction, but by the hands of the men around her, Little Terry, Spike and our narrator who continuously internally sexualizes her throughout the story, stating that just as young as when she was sixteen, did he feel ‘sexual tension’ between the two. Little Terry and Spike are monsters who are not vulnerable like Ferriday, but are more rather dangerous and propel the story forward with their menacing ways.
Interestingly enough, in this story addiction makes or breaks a character. For Little Terry and Spike, their addiction fuels their vile tendencies, which for Ferriday, this makes her more vulnerable to the circumstances (and men) around her. This can be said for various other stories, in which addiction makes men more frightening and women more vulnerable. This ideology of men vs. women in addictions can be observed outside of literature, but is obviously not always the case. However, in literature, this is a common theme. Perhaps this story is simply navigating two very different types of people with addiction, or it is following this theme closely, exhibiting addiction in two very different ways.