The Life of WIlliam Golding

By andreajensen48

  • Birth

    William Golding was born in Saint Coumb Minor, Cornwall, England, (Biography.com).
  • Period: to

    Golding's Early Life

    • Raised in a 14th-century house next door to a graveyard
    • His mother was named Mildred and his father was named Alex
    • His mother was an active suffragette who fought for women’s right - His father was a schoolmaster at Marlborough Grammar School, where he taught William
    (Biography.com)

  • Golding Wrote His First Novel... Sort of

    • William Golding attempted to write his first novel
    • It essentially failed
    • He found comfort and pleasure in bullying his peers
    (Biography.com).

  • A Chosen Path

    • Attended Brasenose College at Oxford University
    • His father hoped he would become a scientist. However, but William studied English literature
    • In 1934, a year before he graduated, William published his first work, a book of poetry, (ironically titled Poems).
    • The collection was largely overlooked by critics
    (Biography.com)

  • He Graduates

    Golding Graduates from Oxford University, (Biography.com).

  • His Teaching Begins

    • After college, Golding worked in settlement houses and the theater
    • In 1935 he started teaching English and philosophy at Bishop Wordsworth’s School in Salisbury
    • His experience teaching unruly young boys would later serve as inspiration for his novel Lord of the Flies
    (Biography.com)

  • Joined the Royal Navy

    • He temporarily left teaching to join the Royal Navy
    • Fought in WWII
    • Spent the next six years on a boat, except for a seven-month stint in New York
    • In New York he assisted Lord Cherwell at the Naval Research Establishment
    • Golding developed a lifelong romance with sailing and the sea.
    • He fought battleships at the sinking of the Bismarck, and also fended off submarines and planes
    (Biography.com).

  • A First Child

    His firstborn child, David was born
  • Period: to

    Golding In the Royal Army (Continued)

    • He was ranked as a Lieutenant, and was even placed in command of a rocket-launching craft.
    • His participation in the war would prove to be fruitful material for his fiction.
    “I began to see what people were capable of doing. Anyone who moved through those years without understanding that man produces evil as a bee produces honey, must have been blind or wrong in the head.” - William Golding In 1945, after World War II had ended, Golding went back to teaching and writing. (Biography.com)

  • Published His First Novel

    • He published his first novel, Lord of the Flies, after 21 rejections
    • Since its publication, the novel has been widely regarded as a classic, worthy of in-depth analysis and discussion in classrooms around the world
    (Biography.com).

  • Retirement

    Golding retires from teaching in 1962 (Biography.com)

  • Retirement

    Golding retires from teaching in 1962 (Biography.com)

  • Awarded a Nobel Prize

    He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, (Biology.com).

  • Knighted

    In 1988 he was knighted by England’s Queen Elizabeth II (Biography.com)

  • Death

    • Spent the last few years of his life quietly living with his wife, Ann Brookfield, at their house near Falmouth, Cornwall
    • Golding died of a heart attack in Perranarworthal, Cornwall
    • His completed manuscript for The Double Tongue was published posthumously after his death
    (Biography.com).

  • Marriage

    He married Ann Brookfield in 1939 (Biography.com)

  • His Second Child Was Born

    Her name was Judith, and she was born in 1945 (Biography.com)