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Birth
Born in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England. He lived with mother, Mildred, who was a supporter of the British suffragette movement and his father, Alec, who was a schoolteacher and an ardent advocate of rationalism.
Picture: William Golding (right) -
College Education
Attended Brasenose College in Oxford. He first majored in science, but in his third year, he switched to literature. -
College Graduation
Graduated from Brasenose College with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a diploma in education. -
Post-college Career
He worked as a writer, actor and producer with a small theater in London. He considered theater to be the strongest literary influence, and said that Greek tragedians and Shakespeare were his primary influences. -
Teaching Career/ Later Life
He began teaching English and Philosophy at Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury. It has been said working with boys at the school gave him inspiration for his later novel, Lord of the Flies. Later that year, he got married to Ann Brookfield and had two kids, David (b. 1940) and Judith (b. 1945). -
Joining the Royal Navy
Although William had always had a passion for teaching, he temporarily left the profession to join the Royal Navy and fight in World War II. -
Leaving Royal Navy
After experiencing cruelty and barbarity during his time in the war, William served the Royal Navy for 5 years before leaving. He wrote about his wartime experiences, stating, "man produces evil, as a bee produces honey." William developed lots of stories coming back to the problem of evil, the conflict between reason's civilizing influence, and mankind's innate desire for domination. -
Publishing of Lord of the Flies
After the book was reject by 21 publishers, it was published in 1954. The book is a combination of perception of humanity and his years of experience with the schoolboys. -
The Inheirtors
This is a novel written by William Golding shortly after the publication of Lord of the Flies. This story is about a depiction of how the violent Homo sapiens achieved victory over the Neanderthals. -
Pincher Martin
This is story is written a year after The Inheritors, and is very similar to Lord of the Flies. The story talks about survival after shipwreck. -
Free Fall
Free Fall is a novel told in a first person narrator, which is different from his first three novels. It is a collection of love poems intertwined with the main character's commentary on the poems. -
Leaving Bishop Wordsworth's School
Golding began to teach at this school in 1939, only leaving in 1940 to join the Royal Navy. When he returned, he resumed his position as a teacher until 1961, when he left permanently to become a full time writer. -
Lord of the Flies Film
Peter Brook made an adaptation on William's critically acclaimed novel, Lord of the Flies. This was created two years after William retied from teaching. -
The Spire
Issues of faith are also addressed in this novel. The novel tells the story of the human costs of the spire's construction and the lessons that the main character, Dean, learns too late. -
The Pyramid
The main issue or conflict in this book is revolved around music. The entire novel examines the English social class within a town named, Stilbourne. -
The Scorpion God: Three Short Novels
Each story explores the negative repercussions of technological progress. One of the novellas had been originally published in 1956, but then Golding turned it into a comedic play called, The Brass Butterfly. It was first performed in 1958 in London. -
Darkness Visible
The story tells the tale between good and evil, which is represented by two characters. Sophy, who plots to kidnap a child for ransom, and Matty, who gives his life to prevent it. -
The Sea Trilogy
All of the books are based on emotional education and moral growth of a young man named Edmund Talbot. The first book of the trilogy is, Rites of Passage (1980) shows Talbot's spiritual growth. The second book is, Close Quarters (1987) depicts his emotional and aesthetic development. And the final book is, ire Down Below (1989) covers his political enlightenment. -
Nobel Peace Prize
William Golding receives the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize for Literature. This was rewarded to him because of his excellent work on his novels. -
The Paper Men
This novel was condemned by reviewers as his worst work because the novel seemed to condemn literary critics. The plot concerns an elderly novelist trying to elude a young scholar who wants to write his biography. -
Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II
William Golding was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1988. He also received the honorary designation Commander of the British Empire (CBE). -
Second Lord of the Flies Film
This is the newer version of the Lord of the Flies film. It brought attention to new generations of readers 27 years after the first film was made. -
Death
On this day, William Golding died of a heart attack at age 82. After Golding died, the completed manuscript for The Double Tonuge was published.
