This paper is an examination of the forces that shape individual growth and development during the early years of life, using a systems theory approach to considering such development. It focuses on Lark Ann Erhardt, the fictional narrator of Faith Sullivan’s novel, The Cape Ann. Lark is six years old at the beginning of the book, and her growth throughout provides a remarkable and realistic portrait of the ways in which biological, psychological, social, and environmental elements affect individual development. Lark provides an intriguing case study of how a child learns codes of behavior and morality, deals with death, develops abstract thinking, establishes sexual identity, and starts to define her individual place in the world. The story is set during the end of the 1930s and the early 1940s, and Lark’s case demonstrates the effects of historical…