text: While hiding in a tree, two characters created by this author watch a man dressed as a stag chop another person's finger off.
full_question: While hiding in a tree, two characters created by this author watch a man dressed as a stag chop another person's finger off. In a novel by this author, a lame man is murdered and buried with a sprig of mistletoe by some workmen, allowing his wife Goody Pangall to pursue an affair with the master builder Roger Mason. In a novel by this author, Fa is swept down a waterfall on a log and Lok is unable to save a baby called the New One. This author wrote a novel about Dean Jocelin's renovation of a cathedral and a novel about a tribe of Neander- thals. In one of his novels, the corpse of a parachuter is mistaken for the Beast, and a conch shell and Piggy's glasses are symbols of order. For 10 points, name this author of The Spire, The Inheritors, and Lord of the Flies.
first_sentence: While hiding in a tree, two characters created by this author watch a man dressed as a stag chop another person's finger off.
raw_answer: William Golding [or William Gerald Golding]