WILL

IAM

GOLDIN

G

B Y JA

CK

I E L

OC

KE T T

William Golding was born on September 19th, 1911.

Born in Marlborough, Wiltshire.

His father was a schoolmaster and his mother was a suffragette.

His parents expected him to be a scientist but he revolted.

Goldin

g had

bee

n writ

ing

stor

ies

since

he

was

only

seve

n yea

rs o

ld, a

nd eve

n

atte

mpte

d to w

rite

a nov

el

when

he

was

12. H

is

favo

rite

auth

ors

incl

uded H

.

G. Wel

ls,

Jule

s Ver

ne, a

nd

Edgar

Ric

e Burr

oughs.

Edgar Rice Burroughs

Brase

nose

Colle

ge

He att

ended colle

ge at M

arlboro

ugh gra

mm

ar

school a

nd Bra

senose

colle

ge of O

xford

.

At 22 years old, a year before getting his degree in

English, Golding’s first literary work was published. It

was a collection of poetry titled “Poems”. He admitted

it was not his most interesting work and even

considered it “an embarrassment”. “The sea is roaring in my blood,Crooning a wild tune.I can no more say 'nay' to herThan a child to the witches rune-I can no more say 'nay' to herThan the tide to the master-moon.”

Excerpt of “Mazed with Breakers”

Goldin

g gra

duated

from

Brase

nose

in 1

935 and b

ecam

e

a sc

hoolm

aste

r in S

alis

bury,

Wilt

shire

. Fiv

e ye

ars

late

r his

teac

hing c

aree

r was

inte

rrupte

d by

the

outb

reak

of

Wor

ld W

ar II

. He

serv

ed a

ctiv

e

duty in

the

Britis

h Roy

al N

avy.

While

at s

ea h

e sp

ent m

uch o

f

his ti

me

read

ing b

ooks

on

Greek

his

tory

and m

ythol

ogy.

William Golding married Ann Brookfield and they had two children together.

He returned to Bishop Wordsworth’s School in 1945 to continue teaching. He tried to keep his writing career alive and wrote three novels, all of which went unpublished. He was frustrated until 1954 when, after being rejected by 21 publishers, Faber & Faber accepted his book.

Originally, “Lord of the Flies” was thought of as just another adventure book by it’s critics. Eventually they recognized student’s interest in the book and began giving in scholarly reviews. He is Considered one of the late twentieth century’s most distinguished writers mainly because of this book.

After writing “Lord of the Flies”, Golding went on to write ten more novels in addition to essays, short plays, and even a travel book.

A runnin

g them

e in

man

y of

his

fict

ional

novel

s in

clude

sava

gery

and p

rimiti

ve n

ature

in m

en.

The End.