William Golding had witnessed the worst in mankind. He had seen through the saint-like facade of young boys and saw their truly selfish personalities. Also, Golding was directly exposed to the horrendous bloodshed as a soldier during one of the bloodiest wars in history. It was this exposure to the evil in man that inspired Golding’s most well known book. William Golding’s life experiences, such as teaching ill-behaved boys and fighting in the Royal Navy during World War II, had greatly influenced the text of his novel, Lord of the Flies.
William Golding’s early life had given him lots of opportunities to see the true interactions between people, and more importantly, young boys. Sir William Gerald Golding was born in Cornwall, England on September 19, 1911. He was the son of a schoolmaster, his father, and a suffragette, his mother. He earned his education at Marlborough Grammar School and at Brasenose College, Oxford. As a child of 12 years old, he had tried to write a novel but failed. Golding let out his anger by bullying fellow students (William Golding - Biographical). William’s upbringing by intelligent individuals had allowed for him to develop his own intelligence. He was able to analyze how relationships among preadolescent boys and even his own potential wickedness.
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“Eventually, he decided to follow in his father’s footsteps. In 1935 Golding took a position teaching English and philosophy at Bishop Wordsworth’s School in Salisbury. Golding’s experience teaching unruly young boys would later serve as inspiration for his novel Lord of the Flies” (William Golding - Author - Biography). Golding’s daily interaction with these boys as their schoolmaster helped him form his characters’ behaviors, good qualities, and bad qualities. He was able to make his characters well-rounded and