William Golding: A Nobel Author
Sir William Gerald Golding was a well-known and highly influential British author responsible for creating some of the best literature known to man. Regarded as one of the top greatest British writers since 1945, Golding was born into a small family in his grandmother’s house on September 19th, 1911. Born in a small town close to Cornwall known as “Newquay”, William was the youngest in a small family of four. He then shortly moved to Marlborough, where he would begin his education. Born into a highly educated and intelligent family, his father Alec Golding was a science major who taught at the local school in Marlborough. His father was well known for having socialist views, and also for having a strong belief for scientific rationalism. Both William and Joseph Golding attended the school that their father taught at, while their mother Mildred stayed at home as a housewife. His father influenced the subjects that William enjoyed, as William excelled in the sciences, which lead to his extensive studies of the subject in university.
In 1930, William was accepted into Oxford University, where he continued his studies in Natural Sciences. He studied the subjects at a well-known affiliated college known as Brasenose College. William studied natural sciences for two years; however he developed a passion for literature which he then studied after. In the summer of 1934, Golding took an Honors Bachelor of Arts where he began writing his first official book, which was named “Poems”. William had many connections, and through his friend Adam Bittleson, he was able to have his book published in London by the “Macmillan & Co.” publishing company. Poems was not like Golding’s famous works of literature, instead of it being a story, it was a collection of his contemporary poems. It was released exactly twenty years before his most famous novel, The Lord of the Flies.
Shortly after his post-secondary education, Golding married an analytic scientist named Ann Brookfield. They married on September 30th 1939, and had two children. Unfortunately, shortly after the marriage Golding decided to enroll in the British Royal Navy in order to serve for his country during the Second World War. He was stationed on a naval destroyer, with the mission to track and destroy the infamous German battleship known as the “Bismarck”. On the D-Day invasion of Normandy, Golding command a landing ship in order to provide ground troops rocket support on the beach. He survived the battle with no injuries, which lead to his return home after the war. He continued teaching and writing once he returned back to Britain.
Golding’s success began after the world war, when he focused on his literature with the intent of using it to create a career for himself. He was first noticed when he sent some of his work to a company known as “Faber & Faber”, where it was evaluated. It was rejected, but after changes were made to the manuscript, it became published as his most famous work of literature, the” Lord of the Flies”. He continued writing after creating the book, writing novels such as “The Inheritors”, “Pincher Martin”, and “Free Fall”. Golding’s fictional writing style was becoming evident, as his first experimentation with poetry was not nearly as successful as his literary novels. Golding’s literature is known to contain deep imagery, along with heavy use of symbolism. The use of the elements and detailed landscapes is a re-occurring image in most of his literature.
The main influence in his literature was his father, however his friends Peter Green and the previously mentioned Adam Bittleston also had a significant impact on his writing style. Other authors has pointed out that Golding’s work was heavily influenced by the ancient Greek, along with archaeology. Socialism and “Stalinism” from Russia at the time influenced his creation of the Lord of the Flies. The ideas horrified him, and he wanted to share his vision that the
