Death in the afternoon

Hemingway explores bullfighting as a metaphor for life and death, revealing his philosophy of courage, artistry, and grace under pressure.

Death in the Afternoon (1932) by Ernest Hemingway is a non-fiction work exploring the art, ritual, and cultural significance of Spanish bullfighting. Blending reportage, personal reflection, and philosophical musing, Hemingway examines the spectacle not just as a sport, but as a metaphor for life, death, courage, and aesthetic grace. Written with his trademark precision and muscular prose, the book reveals Hemingway’s fascination with the tragic beauty of the bullring and its brutal, ancient codes.

More than a guide to bullfighting, Death in the Afternoon serves as a window into Hemingway’s broader worldview—his obsession with honor, stoicism, and the confrontation with mortality. The book also includes vivid descriptions of Spain and insights into Hemingway’s writing process, making it both a travelogue and a literary self-portrait. Though controversial for its subject matter, it remains a key text in understanding Hemingway’s artistic ethos and his lifelong exploration of what he called “grace under pressure.”