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William Gerald Golding was born in Cornwall, England, in 1911
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Golding began attending Brasenose College at Oxford in 1930 and spent two years studying science, but later switched to literature.
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From 1935 to 1939, Golding worked as a writer, actor, and producer with a small theater in an unfashionable part of London, paying his bills with a job as a social worker.
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In 1939, Golding began teaching English and philosophy in Salisbury at Bishop Wordsworth's School. That same year, he married Ann Brookfield, with whom he had two children.
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During his time in the Navy, he learned about the cruelty and barbarity of humanity, inspiring his writing.
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Golding combined his perception of humanity with his years of experience with schoolboys. Although not the first novel he wrote, Lord of the Flies was the first to be published after having been rejected by 21 publishers.
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With the exception of five years he spent in the Royal Navy during World War II, he remained in the teaching position until 1961 when he left Bishop Wordsworth's School to write full time.
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Golding died in Cornwall in 1993.