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Birthdate
Golding was born on September 19, 1911. He was born at Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England. He was raised in a 14th-century house next door to a graveyard. His mother was named Mildred who was an active suffragette who fought for women's right to vote. His father, Alex, was a schoolmaster -
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William Golding Birth and Death
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Early Education and novel
William recieved his early education at the school his father ran, Marlborough Grammer School. WHen William was just 12 years old, he attempted, unsuccessfully, to write a novel. He was frustrated and found an outlet to bullying his peers. -
Graduation and First Poem Book
After primary school, William went on to attend Brasenose College at Oxford University. His father hoped he would become a scientists, but William opted to study English literature instead. In 1934, William published his first work, a book of poetry aptly entitled Poems. It was largely overlooked by critics. -
College and Inspiration for LOTF.
After college, Golding worked in settlement houses and the theater for a time. Eventually, he decided to follow in his father's footsteps. In 1935 Golding took a position teaching English and philosphy at Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury. Golding's experience teaching inruly young boys would later serve as inspiration for his novel Lord og the Flies. -
Royal Navy
In 1940 Golding Temporarily abandoned the profession to join the Royal Navy and fight in World War II. Golding spent the better part of the next six years on a boat, except for a seven-month stint in New York, where he assisted Lord Cherwell at the Naval Research Establishment. While in the Royal Navy, Golding developed a lifelong romance with sailing and the sea. -
Lord of the Flies
In 1954, after 21 rejections, Golding published his first and most acclaimed novel, Lord of the Flies. The novel told the gripping story of a group of adolesent boys stranded on a deserted island after a plane wreck. -
The Inheritors
As a fast intense writer, Golding quickly followed Lord of the Flies 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. -
Film Adaptation
In 1963, the year after Golding retired from teaching, Peter Brook made a film adaptation of the critically acclaimed novel. Two decades later, at the age of 73, Golding was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize for Literature. In 1988 he was knighted by England’s Queen Elizabeth II. -
Successful Novels
Among the most successful novels of Golding’s writing career were Rites of Passage (winner of the 1980 Booker McConnell Prize), Pincher Martin, Free Fall and The Pyramid. While Golding was mainly a novelist, his body of work also includes poetry, plays, essays and short stories. -
Death
On June 19, 1993, Golding died of a heart attack in Perranarworthal, Cornwall. He was survived by his wife and their two children, David and Judith. After Golding pased away, his completed manuscript for The Double Tongue was published.
