-
William Golding was born in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England to a suffragette who fought for women’s enfranchisement and a schoolmaster.
-
William Golding received his primary school education at Marlborough Grammar School, his father’s school. William Golding had a troubled childhood and he released his anger through bullying other children. As William Golding later reflected on his childhood, he was a “brat” as a child and would “enjoy hurting people”.
-
William Golding attempted, unsuccessfully, to write his first novel.
-
William Golding attending the Brasenose College at Oxford University, where he studied English literature.
-
He published his first work, which was a book of poetry titled Poems. This was published a year before he graduated from university.
-
William Golding first worked in settlement houses and the theatre and then began teaching English and philosophy at Bishop Wordsworth’s Schoo, Salisbury. His teaching position and regular interactions with rebellious boys gave him inspiration for Lord of the Flies.
-
William Golding married Ann Brookfield
-
Golding’s first son David was born.
-
William Golding temporarily abandoned his writing and teaching profession to join the Royal Navy to fight in World War II, where he spent the majority of his time on a boat. Here, he discovered his lasting passion for the ocean. His World War II experiences contributed to the creation of Lord of the Flies as well.
-
His experiences showed him what he believed to be the nature of all humans. He concluded “I began to see what people were capable of doing. Anyone who moved through those years without understanding that man produces evil as a bee produces honey, must have been blind or wrong in the head.”
-
Golding went back to teaching after World War II. Golding’s daughter, Judy, was born.
-
William Golding became a provincial school teacher and he would write his books in his spare time.
-
William Golding finally published his debut novel, Lord of the Flies, after 21 rejections. In this novel, he explored a man’s inner struggle between good and evil.
-
He retired from teaching. He enjoyed and studied music, sailing, archaeology, and classical Greek.
-
Lord of the Flies was first adapted into a film by Peter Brook.
-
William Golding won the Booker Prize for his novel Rites of Passage.
-
Golding won the 1983 Nobel Prize for Literature. He was awarded because “his novels which, with the perspicuity of realistic narrative art and the diversity and universality of myth, illuminate the human condition in the world of today."
-
Golding was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II
-
A newer version of the Lord of the Flies aired, which promoted the book to younger generations.
-
Golding’s last years were spent peacefully with his wife in their house near Falmouth, Cornwall.
-
William Golding passes away due to a heart attack.
