William Golding was a British novelist born in 1911 who is best known for his novel Lord of the Flies. He served in the Royal Navy during World War II, an experience that influenced his writing. Lord of the Flies was published in 1954 and tells the story of schoolboys stranded on an island who try to form their own society but eventually revert to savagery. Though initially unsuccessful, it became widely popular in the 1960s and explores themes of human nature, civilization versus savagery, and the struggle between good and evil. Golding went on to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1983.
2. WasaBritish novelist.
BornonSeptember 19,1911,died 1993
StudiedScienceand Englishat Oxford
Fought in RoyalNavy duringWWII
and was briefly involved in the pursuit
and sinking of Germany's mightiest
battleship, the Bismarck.
At war’s end, returned to teaching and
writing
Earnedthe Nobel Prizein Literature
Winner of the 1983Nobel Prizein literature,
he’s among the most popular and
influential British authors to have emerged
afterWorldWarII.
4. 1939-Britain joined Francein war against NaziGermany
1940- Fall ofFrance
1940-FascistItaly joins theAxis with Germany
1941-Japanattacks PearlHarbor causingUSAto declare war onJapan
and enter the war
1944- D-Day NormandyLandings
1945- Bombing ofDresden
1945- European victorycelebrated
1945-Atomic Bombdropped in Hiroshima immediately killing 60-80,000
people
(final death toll 135,000people)
5. ONWRITINGLORDOFTHE
FLIES
“It was simply what
seemed sensible for me to write
after the war when everyone was
thanking God they weren’t
Nazis. I’d seen enough to realize
that every single one of uscould
be Nazis.”
--WilliamGolding
6. Golding onceallowed his classof boys total
freedominadebate,but hadto interveneas
mayhem soon brokeout
Experiencesinwar
CriticalresponsetoCoralIslandbyR.M.
Ballanytyne
Philosophicalquestionsabouthumannature
8. Rejected21times beforeit waspublished
It washisfirst novel-publishedin 1954
Not successfuluntil the early1960’s
On the American Library Association’s list
of the 100Most FrequentlyChallenged
Booksof 1990-2000.
9. Setin mid 1940’swhenEuropewas
engulfed inwar.
Aplane carrying British school boys is
mistakenfor amilitary craftandshot
down.
Onlythe boyssurvivethe crashandtry
to form asocietyandgovern
themselves.
10. “The theme is an attempt to trace the
defects of society backto the defects of
human nature.”
--WilliamGolding
13. InHook,RobinWilliams comparesLostBoysto
savagesin Lordof the Flies.
TheSimpsonsepisode“DasBus”isaparody.
Inspirationfor the animeseriesInfiniteRyvius.
MelGibson’s2006movieApocalyptohasasimilar
ending.
T.V.showsSurvivorandLostaresaidto havebeen
inspiredfrom Lordof the Flies.
2006movie Unaccompanied Minors makesreference
to Lordof the Flies.
14. “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the
darknessof man's heart, and the fall through
the air of the true, wisefriend called Piggy."
-WilliamGolding, LordoftheFlies,Chapter 12
15. Golding,William. (2010).GrolierMultimediaEncyclopedia.
Retrieved May 21,2010, from Grolier Online
http://gme.grolier.com/article?assetid=0122620-0
Galloway, David. "Golding, William Gerald (1911–1993)."
Encyclopedia Americana. Grolier Online
http://ea.grolier.com/article?id=0179130-00 (accessed May
21,2010).
http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/lordoftheflies/