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Written by: William Golding Author Background. William Golding Biography. Born September 19, 1911 in Cornwall , England. Died in 1993 in Wiltshire , England. William Golding: Biography (cont.). 1930- Attended Oxford University to study natural sciences
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Written by: William Golding Author Background
William GoldingBiography Born September 19, 1911 in Cornwall, England. Died in 1993 in Wiltshire, England.
William Golding: Biography (cont.) • 1930- Attended Oxford University to study natural sciences • 1932- Changed his major to Literature • 1935- Became a teacher
1940- Joined the British Royal Navy (WWII) • 1944- Commanded a rocket-launching ship during the invasion of France • 1945-1962 Taught in Salisbury, England • 1954- Published Lord of the Flies • 1963- Taught in Greece
William GoldingAWARDS Booker-McConnell Prize (now Man Booker prize) -one of the most prestigious British literary awards Pulitzer Prize for Fiction -one of the most prestigious awards in American journalism, fiction, and non-fiction literature (honor just to get nominated in a category) Other recipients: author Robert Frost, film reviewer Roger Ebert, author Ernest Hemingway “In 2009, the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting went to David Barstow of the New York Times for his coverage of military and corporate influence over reporters in Iraq” 1983- Nobel Prize for Literature - endowed by Alfred Nobel to create a series of prizes for those who provide the “greatest benefit on mankind” in physics, chemistry, peace, physiology or medicine, and literature” - winners can be from ANY country - prize money currently $1.3 million and the honor is worth much more Golding received the award "for his novels which, with the perspicuity of realistic narrative art and the diversity and universality of myth, illuminate the human condition in the world of today"
William Golding:Other Novels The Inheritors (1955) Pincher Martin (1956) Free Fall (1959) The Spire (1964) Darkness Visible (1979) Rites of Passage (1980)
William GoldingBeliefs • After WWII, Golding lost trust in man’s innocence • Man is evil and brutal by nature • Not even children are innocent, though they seem to be • True nature comes out when man is put to the test- survival instincts are animalistic
William GoldingPhilosophy • “man was sick-not exceptional man but average man” • “The condition of man was to be a morally diseased creature.” • Lord of the Flies is “an attempt to trace defects of society back to defects of human nature.”
William GoldingVision for Humanity Without civilization’s social environment, human beings would return to a savage state led by fear and basic desire for survival.
William Golding ThemeS • Defects in society can be traced to the defects of individuals. • Civilized society keeps human beings from reverting back to a more primitive, savage state. • All individuals have the capacity for brutality. • A society can be judged by the way it treats the most vulnerable citizens.
Quick-write 1. List 5 words that come to mind when you see this baby. 2. What do you predict for this baby? 3. What kind of adult will this baby be? Accomplishments? Legacy?
Are people born evil? If not, how do they become evil? What would William Golding say?