-
Birth
William Golding was born September 19, 1911, in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England. His father, Alex, was a schoolmaster, while his mother, Mildred, was active in the Women's Suffrage Movement. Since the age of seven, Golding had been writing stories, and at the age of twelve he attempted to write a novel. -
College Years
Golding began attending Brasenose College at Oxford in 1930 and spent two years studying science, in deference to his father's beliefs. In his third year, however, he switched to the literature program, following his true interests -
Teaching Carrer
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. -
Graduation
In 1935, he graduated from Oxford with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a diploma in education. He starts a writing career. -
Different Kinds of Jobs
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. He considered the theater his strongest literary influence -
Career change
Although he loved teaching very much, in 1940 Golding temporarily abandoned the profession to join the Royal Navy and fight in World War II. Of his World War II experiences, Golding has said, “I began to see what people were capable of doing." -
Lord of the Flies
After 21 rejections, Golding published his first and most acclaimed novel, Lord of the Flies. The novel told the gripping story of a group of adolescent boys stranded on a deserted island after a plane wreck. The book set the tone for Golding’s future work, in which he continued to examine man’s internal struggle between good and evil. -
Writing Career
While in America Golding worked on drafts of The Spire, as well as delivering the first version of his lecture ‘Fable’, on Lord of the Flies. During this year, he resigned from Bishop Wordsworth’s School, and became a full time writer. -
Darkness Visible
Golding's next novel, Darkness Visible, appeared in 1979. It addresses the interdependence of good and evil, exemplified in the two main characters: Sophy, who plots to kidnap a child for ransom, and Matty, who gives his life to prevent it. -
Eightieth Birthday
Golding celebrated his eightieth birthday. He revised the separate volumes of his Sea Trilogy, to make a single volume, To the Ends of the Earth. -
Golding's Last Day on Earth
Golding died of a heart attack in Perranarworthal, Cornwall. He was survived by his wife and their two children, David and Judith. After Golding passed away, his completed manuscript for The Double Tongue was published posthumously.
