The book tells that in a future nuclear car, a plane carrying a group of children flies from the native soil to the south to evacuate, the plane is shot down and the capsule the children are in falls onto a desolate and uninhabited yet a haven of peace coral island. In the beginning the children make concerted efforts but later due to fear of the so-called beast split into two camps. The story ends when the dictatorship camp which worships instincts defeats the democracy camp which worships consciousness. .