The boys (including the unnamed narrator and his brother) are sent to a rural village (strongly echoing the regions of Shikoku in which Ōe was raised) to live and work.

Upon arrival, the boys find the village afflicted by plague, with piles of rotting animal corpses dominating the atmosphere.

The group is joined (in stages) by a Korean boy named Li, a deserter from the army, and a young girl who has been abandoned in a warehouse.

The boys attempt to make the most of their situation; Li teaches them to hunt birds, resulting in a jubilant festival, and the narrator finds love with the young girl.

All members of the reformatory boys eventually agree to keep silent about the actions of the villagers, with the exception of the narrator.