Nature or nurture? A question frequently asked but difficult to answer or prove. This is where William Golding comes in. He writes a novel about a group of schoolchildren stranded on an island, struggling to survive. Instead of behaving as they have been taught by society, they turn into a mess, splitting into separate groups, celebrating pig hunting, and killing each other. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding, inspired by Coral Island and Paradise Lost, shows the true nature of human beings in a society created by children. The novel, Lord of the Flies, was born from the personal experiences of William Golding. In 1953, Golding asked his wife Ann if she thought it would be a good idea to write a book about the mess kids without parents would create on an island. She replied that she liked the idea, so Golding sat down and began writing her first novel (Tiger 22). When he began to write this novel, Golding remembered when he served in the Royal Army during the Second World War. Those five years taught Golding what humans were actually capable and willing to do. They are also responsible for having initially interested him in the evil present in humans and in barbarism ("Golding"). Although Golding drew many of his themes from what he had witnessed, he also based his plot on some of his previous reading. Lord of the Flies is considered William Golding's answer to RM Ballantyne's The Coral Island. Like Lord of the Flies, Ballantyne's novel is based on a group of boys who are shipwrecked and end up stranded on a reef island. However, in The Coral Island the kids make the best of the situation they find themselves in and lead happy, organized lives. Golding calls his novel a “kind of black mass or realistic view of the situation” (Bu...... middle of paper...... ignoring the others. In response to this, Golding wrote the essay “Fable" to answer the questions he constantly received (Wood 316). The book also “inspired two films, was translated into 26 languages, sold millions of copies, and became a standard on high school and high school reading lists” (Lambert 317). Williams, an actor made a theatrical adoption from the book. The title of the novel was also used to name the killing or mass murder of children (Tiger 23). To sum up, in Lord of the Flies, William Golding shows that he believes in nature rather than nurture. Although his novel received negative reviews, it proved to be a highly successful novel. Lord of the Flies continues to be famous and studied throughout the world realistic, the symbolism and writing overall continues to appeal and interest more readers in his writing.