1. William
Golding, WWII
and the Cold War
23 April 2013

2. William Golding’s Early Life
• Born in England in 1911
(Just before WWI began
in Europe)
• Mother was a
suffragette, father was a
schoolmaster

3. Golding as a Young Adult
• Studied science at
Oxford before deciding
to study literature
• Joined the Royal Navy
when WWII began

4. Golding in WWII
• Present at the sinking of
the Bismarck
(Germany’s premiere
battleship)
• Involved in the invasion
of Normandy (D-Day)

5. Golding as a Writer
• Wrote poetry before he
wrote fiction
• Began writing fiction
after returning from
WWII
• His first novel, Lord of
the Flies, was eventually
published in 1954

6. World War II
• A global war, fought on all
major oceans and in
Africa, Asia, and Europe
• Almost 60 nations were
directly involved.
• Most costly war in terms of
property damage and
military spending
• 22 million killed, 34 million
wounded, and millions more
became refugees

7. How did it start? Zoom in on Germany.
• After WWI, Germany’s
democratic government
was weak and unstable.
• The peace treaty that
ended WWI caused the
German economy to fail
• When the Great
Depression hit, hard times
became even harder.

8. Life in Germany was unstable, so…
• Many people were willing to
trade their democratic
freedom for Nazi promises
of security and national
glory.

9. When the Nazis came into power…
• Government propaganda
blamed Germany’s
Jewish population for
economic hardship
• Adolf Hitler, the Nazi
leader, terrorized anyone
who opposed him and
started to expand the
German empire.

10. After WWII ended, the Cold War began.
• As WWII ended, the
Soviet Union (USSR)
and the U.S. were allies
against Germany and
Japan.
However, cooperation
broke down after the war
ended and the time came
to rebuild Europe.

11. The U.S. wanted to stop communism, while the USSR
wanted to spread communism.
• USSR: • U.S.:
• Authoritarian government • Democratic government
• Communist economic • Capitalist economic system
system • Guarantees on civil rights
• Limits on civil rights (for certain groups of
• Cycles of repression and people)
freedom in social and • More freedom in social and
cultural life. cultural life

12. The Cold War was perpetuated through:
• Propaganda
• Alliances with other
countries
• Scientific competition
• Economic competition
• Espionage

13. Life during the Cold War:
• Everyone lived under an
uneasy truce
• Constant threat of a nuclear
world war
• Fear of WWIII permeated
popular culture, including
literature.