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Golding was born in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England. His mother, Mildred, was an active suffragette who fought for women’s right to vote. His father, Alex, worked as a schoolmaster.(Biography.com)
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His first attempt is unsuccessful and he is 12 years old when he first tries. Out of pure frustration, he found an outlet in bullying his peers. Later in life, William would describe himself as a brat growing up, even going so far as to say, “I enjoyed hurting people.”(Biography.com)
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After primary school, William went on to attend Brasenose College at Oxford University. In 1934, a year before he graduated, William published his first work, a book of poetry aptly entitled Poems. The collection was widely overlooked by critics. (Biography.com)
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After college, Golding worked in settlement houses and the theater. Later, Golding took a position teaching English and philosophy at Bishop Wordsworth’s School in Salisbury. Golding’s experience teaching unruly young boys would later serve as inspiration for his novel, Lord of the Flies. (Biography.com)
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William Golding married Ann Brookfield at their house near Falmouth, Cornwall. They had two children: David (born 1940) and Judith (born 1945). (Biography.com)
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Golding temporarily abandoned teaching to join the Royal Navy and fight in World War II. Although teaching was his favorite profession, he learned many things after joining the navy. (Biography.com)
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Golding fell in love with sailing and the sea after joining the navy. During World War II, Lieutenant Golding was even placed in command of a rocket-launching craft. Golding’s participation in the war would prove to be fruitful material for his fiction, and when World War II ended, he returned home to teach. (Biography.com)
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The novel told the gripping story of a group of adolescent boys stranded on a deserted island after a plane wreck. Lord of the Flies explored the savage side of human nature as the boys, let loose from the constraints of society, brutally turned against one another in the face of an imagined enemy. Riddled with symbolism, the book set the tone for Golding’s future work, in which he continued to examine man’s internal struggle between good and evil. (Biography.com)
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Golding writes about how the violent, deceitful humans achieved victory over the gentler ones. Although this novel is the one readers have the most difficulty understanding, it remained Golding's favorite throughout his life. (cliffnotes.com)
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Like Lord of the Flies, it concerns survival after shipwreck. Navy lieutenant Christopher Martin is thrown from his ship during combat in World War II. He finds a rock to cling to, and the rest of the story is related from this vantage point, detailing his struggle for survival and recounting the details of his life. (cliffnotes.com)
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Free Fall is told with a first person narrator, an artist named Samuel Mountjoy. The novel takes as a model Dante's La Vita Nuova, a collection of love poems interspersed with Dante's own commentary on the poems. Golding uses the character Mountjoy to comment on the conflict between rationalism and faith. (cliffnotes.com)
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Golding retired from teaching, but then Peter Brook made a film adaptation of the critically acclaimed, Lord of the Flies. 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)
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Issues of faith are addressed. This is because humans are to side with or go against God.
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The book provides an examination of English social class within the context of a town ironically named Stilbourne. A primary issue in this story is music, and the novel utilizes the same structure as the musical form sonata. (cliffnotes.com)
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The book addresses the interdependence of good and evil. It is exemplified in the two main characters: Sophy, who plots to kidnap a child for ransom, and Matty, who gives his life to prevent it. (cliffnotes.com)
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He won the prize at the age of 73 for Literature. This is most likely due to Lord of the Flies. (Biography.com)
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The book was condemned by reviewers as his worst work, partly 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. (cliffnotes.com)
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Golding is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II of England. This is very noble in England.
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The film is appealing to young readers. The movie was not as well known as the book, however. (Biography.com)
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On June 19, 1993, Golding died of a heart attack in Perranarworthal, Cornwall. After Golding died, his completed manuscript for The Double Tongue was published posthumously. (Biography.com)
