text: at what time period does "the lord of the flies" take place? i am looking for a specific era for a project. anything really helps. time of work: an indeterminate time in the future.  the novel presumes an atomic war that threatens to wipe out civilization and a small group of children managing to survive on a previously uninhabited island. its asks whether such children will re-create the democratic civilization they have experienced during their short lives or instead, because of animal survival instincts, revert to some precivilized form of existence.