In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding the setting has a very strong influence on the actions and attitudes of the characters. The setting is defined in literature as the place where the story takes place. In Lord of the Flies, the setting is on a deserted tropical island in the middle of the ocean, where a microcosm can establish itself. Three specific examples of how the setting influenced the characters' actions and attitudes are: Isolation from a civilized world, the mysteries of an unknown place, and different social types forced to coexist. The way in which these examples are to be demonstrated will be developed in the following paragraphs. Being on an island in the middle of the ocean, cut off from the lifeline of a highly civilized society that took hundreds of years to develop. Because of children's age and experience, their ideals of what it takes to be civilized are not developed to the level of an adult's. When children are placed in a world without rules, punishments and order, this leads to a progressive deterioration of what they have learned to be "civilized". Without boundaries from authority figures, kids feel like they can do whatever they want, or as they say "have fun." At first things were fine. An organized society had been formed in which Ralph was elected leader and others were assigned specific tasks. However, as time goes by, things start to get worse, the boys are tired of doing their duty...