William Golding - A Short Biography

Synopsis

Sir William Gerald Golding was a British writer who was born on the 19th of September 1911 and died on the 19th of June 1993. Golding is perhaps most known for his novel, Lord of the Flies. Golding is listed as the third greatest writer in British history in a list put together by the British newspaper The Times in 2008. Golding was the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1989

Early Life

During his early life William Golding was quite troubled. He was known to bully his peers and according to biography.com, he made the claim, "I enjoyed hurting people" as a youngster. At the age of 12 Golding attempted the task of writing a novel but was unsuccessful. 

Adulthood 

After completing primary school, William Golding went onto study English Literature at Oxford University, defying his father’s wishes that he was to become a scientist. After graduating from school Golding went on to teach at Bishop Wordsworth's School, where he got a lot of his inspiration for Lord of the Flies. 

According to the Guardian, Golding has personal papers that confirm the story that he tried to rape a 15 year old girl while he was a youth and also pitted young boys against eachother while he was a teacher. The girl he allegedly tried to rape ran away, but came back to have sexual relations with Golding one year later. The Guardian claims that these incidents can be read in some drafts of an autobiography Golding was putting together. 

Golding married the analytical chemist, Ann Brookfield, with whom he had 2 children.

In 1940, only a year after getting married, Golding quit teaching to join the Royal Navy, despite being extremely passionate about teaching. During his time in the Navy Golding fought battles in World War II and spent some time in New York. After the end of World War II in 1945, he went back to teaching as well as writing and finally in 1954, after 21 rejections, Golding finally got his first novel, Lord of the Flies, published. 

Later Life

Golding retired from teaching in 1962 and continued writing all the way up until his death on the 19th of June 1993. In total Golding has had 14 novels, three non-fiction books, one play and one collection of poems published. His last novel was titled The Double Tongue and was published posthumously in 1995. In 1988 Golding was knighted by the Queen of England Elizabeth II. On the 19th of June 1993 he died of a heart attack in Cornwall at the age of 81.