The Life of William Golding

  • Birth

    Birth
    William Golding was born on Sep 19, 1911, in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England. He was raised in a 14th-century house next door to a graveyard.
  • Early Education

    Early Education
    William received his early education at the school his father ran, Marlborough Grammar School. When he was 12 years old, he attempted to write a novel with not success at all.
  • College

    College
    William went on to attend Brasenose College at Oxford University. He opted to study English literature. A year before graduating he published his first work, a book of poetry.
  • After College

    After College
    He decided to follow his father footstep's and start teaching. Golding took a position teaching English and philosophy at Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury.
  • Love Life

    Love Life
    Ann Brookfield, his wife name. The couple got married in 1939 and live near Falmouth, Cornwall.
  • Navy

    Navy
    During World War II, he fought battleships at the sinking of the Bismarck, and also fended off submarines and planes. He was even placed in command of a rocket-launching craft. While in Royal Navy, Golding developed a lifelong romance with sailing and the sea.
  • First Novel

    First Novel
    After 21 rejections, Golding published his first and most acclaimed novel, Lord of the Flies. This novel was about a group of adolescent boys stranded on a desert island after a plane wreck. Since its publication the novel was regarded as a classic and discussion in classrooms around the world.
  • Nobel Prize

    Nobel Prize
    Peter Brook made a film adaptation of the novel. After two decades when Golding was 73 years old he was awarded for the 1983 Nobel Prize for Literature.
  • New generation

    New generation
    A new film of the Lord of the Flies was released. This brought the attention of a new generation of readers.
  • Death

    Death
    Golding died of a heart attack. After his death, his completed manuscript for The Double Tongue was published.