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William Gerald Golding was born in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England. Golding was raised by his mother who was a suffragist and his father who was a schoolmaster in a house near a graveyard.
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Golding published his first work titled Poems which was viewed by many critics. Since a young age, Golding has always dreamed of writing poetry.
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Initially under the influence of his father, Golding spent two years majoring in the science field. However, following his dream, he later graduated from Oxford earning a Bachelor of Arts in English and a diploma in education.
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After college Golding payed his bills as a social worker by writing, acting, and producing. He believed theater was his strongest literacy, citing from Greek tragedians and Shakespeare being his primary influences.
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Golding began teaching English and philosophy in Salisbury at Bishop Wordsworth's School. His teaching experience would later become a major influence to the creation of his most known work, "Lord of the Flies".
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Golding married Ann Brookfield and had two kids.
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Golding temporarily abandoned his profession for five years to fight in World War II by joining the Royal Navy. These five years exposed Golding to devastation and cruelty, which extremely impacted his opinion on humanity. He had lost faith in his father's beliefs of advancement of human morality, that every man aspires for evil power.
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Golding published his most famous novel after 21 rejections. Golding wrote this novel based off of his experiences from teaching schoolboys and war. The young boys in the "Lord of The Flies" symbolically presents a struggle to preserve morality while caving in to savagery.
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A year after Golding retired from teaching, Peter Brook made a film adaptation of the famous novel.
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At age 73, Golding was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for literature.
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Golding was knighted by England's Queen Elizabeth II for his phenomenon in his writing. It made him happy that it changed his wife's status to 'lady' Golding.
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A new film version of the Lord of the Flies was released which brought recognition to new generation readers, extending the Lord of the Flies' legacy.
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Golding spent the last few years of his life quietly living with his wife at their house near Falmouth, Cornwall. He dies of a heart attack in Perranarworthal, Cornwall. A completed manuscript of "The Double Tongue" was published after his death.
