Lord of the Flies

By tkeahi20

  • William Golding was Born

    William Golding was born on September 19, 1911, in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England. At the age of 12 he attempted, unsuccessfully, to write a novel.

  • Attending Oxford

    Golding began attending Brasenose College at Oxford in 1930 and spent two years studying science. But during his third year, however, he switched to the literature program, following his true interests.

  • First Book of Peotry

    After primary school, William went on to attend Brasenose College at Oxford University. His father hoped he would become a scientist, but William went to study English literature instead.In 1934, a year before he graduated, William published his first book of poetry aptly entitled Poems.

  • Teaching English

    After college, he worked in settlement houses and theater for a time. in time he decided to follow after his dad's footsteps. In 1935 Golding took a position teaching English and philosophy at Bishop Wordsworth’s School in Salisbury.

  • Graduated

    In 1935, he graduated from Oxford with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a diploma in education.

  • Joining the Royal Navy

    He temporarily left teaching in 1940 to join the Royal Navy. He joined to fight in the World War II.

  • Went Back after World War

    In 1945, after World War II had ended, Golding went back to teaching and writing.

  • First Novel

    In 1954 he published his first novel, Lord of the Flies.

  • Second Book

    After The Lord of Flies he came out with The Inheritors (1955), a depiction of how the violent, deceitful Homo sapiens achieved victory over the gentler Neanderthals. Although this novel is the one readers have the most difficulty understanding, it remained Golding's favorite throughout his life.

  • Pincher Martin

    Pincher Martin followed in 1956. Like Lord of the Flies, it concerns survival after shipwreck.

  • Free Fall

    Golding uses the flashback technique of Pincher Martin more extensively in his next novel, Free Fall (1959). Unlike his first three novels, Free Fall is told with a first person narrator, an artist named Samuel Mountjoy.

  • THe Pyramid

    The Pyramid (1967) provides an examination of English social class within the context of a town ironically named Stilbourne.

  • Awarded Noble Prize

    In 1983, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

  • The Spire

    The Spire (1964)

  • Death

    On June 19, 1993, he died in Perranarworthal, Cornwall, England.