10 Facts about William Golding on His Birthday

You may not know the name William Golding but I bet you know his most famous book- The Lord of the Flies. This 1954 classic novel about a group of school boys stuck on an island and the chaos that ensues has made its way into classrooms both in the United States and around the world. But what do we know about the author behind the story? In honor of his 113th birthday, here are 10 facts about William Golding.

1.He always wanted to be a Writer

William Golding was a British author born on September 19, 1911. Raised by a suffragette mother and a school teacher father, William was interested in literature and writing from a young age. His first attempt at writing a novel was at the age of 12 but it was considered a failure. In 1934, a year before he graduated from Oxford, he published a book of poems titled, creatively, Poems. However this was largely overlooked by critics of the time. His daughter, Judy Carver, said of his writing, “In his heart he knew he hadn’t found his voice until he started Lord of the Flies”.

2.He was a School Teacher

Despite his father’s desire for him to go into science, Golding pursued English Literature in college and later when on to be a teacher of English literature and philosophy at Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury. His rowdy pupils would be a well of inspiration for his male characters in Lord of the Flies.

3.He was a WWII Veteran

In 1940, while teaching, he enlisted in the British Navy. During this time, he fell in love with the sea and sailing (this would come to affect his later works). He saw active battles including the sinking of the Bismark and the storming of Normandy Beach on D-Day. About his service he said, “The war taught us not fighting, politics or the follies of nationalism, but about the given nature of man”. The struggle between mankind and its ability to do evil played a role in most of his works, including Lord of the Flies. After the war ended, he returned to teaching.

4.Lord of the Flies struggled to be Published

While teaching, William Golding began work on Lord of the Flies but it struggled to find a publisher. The novel was rejected 21 times before Faber & Faber chose to publish it, but even that almost didn’t happen. Originally titled “Strangers from Within”, a reader for Faber & Faber called the manuscript “Absurd & uninteresting fantasy…rubbish & dull. Pointless”. A young editor by the name of Charles Monteith decided to take a chance on the book but told Golding it would need serious changes. In his daughter’s words, "Charles suggested my father drop passages that described the atomic war the children were refugees from. And he did quite a lot of judicious cutting around the role of Simon, who became a less religious figure”. Its first publication was not a huge success but reviews saved the book and sales grew.

5. He became a Full Time Writer

With the success of Lord of the Flies, and three other novels, William Golding was able to retire from teaching in 1962 to focus on writing full time.

6. He was inspired by The Coral Island

Most, if not all, writers are inspired by other works. One work that inspired Golding’s Lord of the Flies was The Coral Island. The Coral Island: A Tale of the Pacific Island was written in 1858 by Scottish author R.M. Ballantye. It follows three boys who become shipwrecked on an island in the South Pacific. Sound familiar? Golding even took two names, Jack and Ralph, from this book. The big difference, however, is that the boys from The Coral Island do not experience any violence/danger from one another. Golding wanted to write this type of adventure tale infused with the 'reality' of what would happen if boys were left to their own devices. Golding drew inspirations from many adventure novels, but this was most likely his biggest influence.

7. Greek Tragedy influenced all of his Works

William Golding was a big reader of Greek tragedies. He said, “I read nothing but classical Greek, not because it was the snobbish thing to do or even the most enjoyable, but because this is where the meat is”. This influence is evident in all of his novels.

8. He is Highly Decorated

In addition to Lord of the Flies, Golding wrote 11 other novels as well as many nonfiction works, short stories, essays, and a play. His book, Rites of Passage, was awarded the prestigious Booker Prize in 1980. Golding was also awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983 and knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1988.

9. He struggled in his Personal Life

William Golding was married to his wife Ann in 1939 and had two children, David and Judy. Unfortunately, Golding suffered from alcoholism and this negatively impacted his family including abusive behavior towards his wife, which he writes about in his memoirs (he referred to himself as a 'monster'). David suffered from extreme depression and Judy’s political beliefs put her at odds with her father. Despite this, his marriage lasted until his death on June 19, 1993 from a heart attack.

10. His work Continues to Influence Pop Culture Today

Golding’s Lord of the Flies has had lasting effects on our culture beyond being read in school. Besides influencing musicians, authors, and tv show parodies (how many Lord of the Flies parodies have you seen?), it also was a large proponent in the creation of a now popular genre of television: reality tv. Shows like Survivor, Big Brother, and The Island with Bear Grylls take direct influence from his novel (though contestants are adults and not kids).

Did any of these facts surprise you? How much did you know about William Golding before this article? Who read Lord of the Flies in class and what do you think about the novel?

Happy Reading!

Lady Bookish

P.S. If you want a more in depth biography of William Golding check out , William Golding: The Man Who Wrote 'Lord of the Flies,'* by John Carey.

*I have not personally read it but it pulls from a vast variety of primary sources

HIS WORKS

NOVELS

Lord of the Flies (1954)
The Inheritors (1955)
Pincher Martin / The Two Deaths of Christopher Martin (1956)
Free Fall (1959)
The Spire (1964)
The Pyramid (1967)
Darkness Visible (1979)
The Paper Men (1984)
The Double Tongue (1995)

SHORT STORY COLLECTION

Sometime, Never (1957)
The Scorpion God (1971)

NON-FICTION

The Hot Gates and Other Occasional Pieces (1965)
A Moving Target (1982)
An Egyptian Journal (1985)

PLAY

Brass Butterfly (1958)

SOURCES

https://william-golding.co.uk/timeline#lord-of-the-flies

https://www.biography.com/writer/william-golding

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1983/golding/biographical/

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-29205286

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/jun/13/william.golding