British novelist and poet Nobel Prize winner Best known for his novel Lord of the Flies

Golding married Ann Brookfield on 30 September 1939 and they had two children, Judy and David.

During World War II, Golding fought in the Royal Navy. He also participated in the invasion of Normandy. At the war's end he returned to teaching and writing.

In 1985 Golding and his wife moved to Cornwall, where he died of heart failure on June 19, He was buried in the village churchyard.

Golding & wife Ann Golding and Ann (m. 1939) taken on leave during the Second World War autumn 1944 Golding & infant daughter Judy summer 1946

Golding hears Nobel news October Golding at Nobel Ceremony 10 December 1983 Golding receives Nobel Prize

Sir William and Lady Golding Newly knighted at Buckingham Palace, July 1988

Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel that discusses how culture, created by man, fails, using as an example a group of British school-boys stuck on a deserted island who try to govern themselves but with disastrous results. William Golding The Nobel Prize in Literature 1983

In 2005, the novel was chosen by TIME magazine as one of the 100 best English- language novels from 1923 to the present. William Golding The Nobel Prize in Literature 1983

Published in 1954, Lord of the Flies became a bestseller only by It was required reading in many schools and colleges. William Golding The Nobel Prize in Literature 1983

The title is said to be a reference to the Hebrew name Beelzebub ( "god of the fly", "host of the fly" or literally "Lord of Flies"), a name sometimes used as a synonym for Satan. William Golding The Nobel Prize in Literature 1983

The book was written during the first years of the Cold War and the atomic age; the events arise in the context of an unnamed nuclear war. The main theme is the conflicting impulses towards civilization (to live by rules, peacefully and in harmony), and towards the will to power.

The story itself takes place on an isolated island. A plane has crashed and there are no adult survivors. The survivors rapidly side with one of two dominant boys: Ralph and another older boy named Jack -the head of a choir group. The children split into two groups. William Golding The Nobel Prize in Literature 1983

For a time, the boys work together building shelters, gathering food and water, and keeping the fire going. Ralph's group continues holding the belief that preserving the signal fire is the necessary focus. William Golding The Nobel Prize in Literature 1983

Jack becomes the chief of his own tribe, focusing on hunting and gradually, Jack and his group turn to being savages, having murdered two of the boys and intending to kill Ralph. William Golding The Nobel Prize in Literature 1983

Jack, nearly complete in his demonic role as the ultimate savage, sets the entire island ablaze. However, the fire started by Jack is so large that it has attracted the attention of a nearby warship. Ralph is rescued. The readers become aware of the darkness of human nature. William Golding The Nobel Prize in Literature 1983

William Golding The Nobel Prize in Literature 1983