“Anyone who lived those years without knowing that men could produce evil just like a bee can produce honey must not have been right in their head”, Golding stated. He was even placed in charge of launching crafts.ĭuring the World War II, William stated that he was able to see what people were really capable of doing. He fought battleships, was involved in sinking the Bismarck and he fend off planes and submarines. William developed a lasting passion for sailing and the seas while in Royal Navy.

While there, he assisted Lord Cherwell in Naval Research Establishment. In the next 6 years, he spent most of his time on boats except for a 7 months stint where he was based in New York. In 1935, he took up a position as an English and philosophy teacher at Bishop Wordsworth’s School in Salisbury.Īlthough William had developed a passion in teaching, in 1940 he temporary left the teaching profession to join the Royal Navy where he was involved in fighting the World War II. He later decided to follow the footsteps of his father and become a teacher. It was not a success and it was ignored by critics.Īt this time, he had been working in various positions in small theater companies and at a settlement house as both a writer and an actor. In 1934, one year after he graduated from college William Golding published his first book which was composed of poems. He became devoted to both poetry and Anglo-Saxon texts which he studied and wrote with a lot of enthusiasm. However, two years later he developed a passion in literature and transferred to a program of English literature and philosophy against his father’s wish. Later in his life, he referred to himself as being a brat when he was a child though he also stated to have loved hurting people then.Īfter primary school, William joined Brasenose College at Oxford University to study science. Frustrated, he found solace in bullying his peers. At 12 years, he unsuccessfully attempted to write a novel. His father Alex Golding worked as a Schoolmaster and his mother, Mildred Golding, was an active member of suffragette a movement that was involved in fighting for the rights of women especially the rights to vote.Īs a child, William attended school at Marlborough Grammar School, which was ran by his father. Born on 19th September, 1911 in Saint Columb Minor, England, William Golding was raised in a small house near a graveyard in the 14th century.

Golding novel