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Birth & parent details
William Golding was born in England in 1911. His mother was a strong supporter of the suffragette movement and his father was an advocate of rationalism (definition: the idea that reason rather than experience is a necessary and reliable means through which to gain knowledge and understand the world). This ideaology was not tolerant of emotionally based experiences and Golding’s father had a large influence on him growing up which he later turned to reject. -
Education
William Golding began attending college in 1930 and studied science for 2 years (influenced by his rationalist father) before switching to literature where he followed his real interests. Golding published a series of poetry which he later said were ‘juvenile’, but the poems convey his increasing distrust and lack of faith of the rationalism that he had grown up hearing. Golding graduated in 1935 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a diploma in education. -
Early career
After graduating in 1935, William Golding worked as a writer, actor, and producer at a small theatre in London and also had a job as a social worker. Golding enjoyed theatre and considered it his strongest literary influence, rather than other novelists. -
Later career
Starting from 1939, William Golding taught English and philosophy. He remained a teacher (with the exception of 1940-1945 when he was in the Royal Navy) until 1961 when he left teaching to write full time. -
Royal Navy
William Golding spent 5 years in the Royal Navy from 1940-1945. These years had a large impact on him and his literature as he was exposed to the cruel and barbaric capabilities of humankind. His experiences further led him to stray away from rationalism and its belief that humankind is capable of being perfect and influenced him to write about the problem of evil in humanity and mankind’s innate desire for domination. -
Lord of the Flies
In 1954 William Golding published the Lord of the Flies. The novel established him as an important figure in literature and it led to him being granted membership in the Royal Society of Literature in 1955. The Lord of the Flies illustrates the failure and issues with rationalism that Golding had noticed throughout his life. -
Later achievements
William Golding published many books after Lord of the Flies, publishing up until 1989. Golding was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize for Literature and was knighted in 1988.