Bullfighting waves red rag to readers

André Viard's comments regarding the culture and symbolism of the corrida, (Issue 68) and the pitting of man against beast (particularly bulls) to prove his worth, seem to have some merit.
Unfortunately for the bull, the lack of darts, spears, lances and swords seem to make this “competition” a tad one sided. Let’s have the bull in the ring sans preparation with the matador, who only has cape, sword and his wits to fight with. Now, that would be worth watching.
David Woods
Leyssalles

Congratulations to Connexion for having the courage to “spotlight” bullfighting and to Tony Todd for his objective reporting.
His story comes appropriately when a young Frenchman from Arles, Mehdi Savalli, now seems set to become one of the world's foremost matadors.

The bulls fought (but not always killed) in the corrida have nothing to do with domestic cattle. The bos taurus africanus is a quite distinct species, a wild and aggressive natural killer carefully bred for the ring for around 400 years (it took first place above the white shark in a recent W9 TV programme Animaux tueurs).

Why is the corrida important? Because, for both man and beast, it is basically about death and the conquest of fear with courage and honour.
Only in the bullring does this direct confrontation still exist. A French psychologist, commenting in La Dépêche recently on the massive increase in official bans and prohibitions (now well over 2,000), from smoking to speed limits, maintains they all come from a subconscious but obsessive fear of death. They represent, he added, the frustrated desire to do the impossible and ban death itself. I personally think it is better to acquaint our children with the inevitable fact of death at firsthand in the bullring in circumstances of grace, courage and honour than to let them witness it first in a car accident or the distressing throes of a relative with terminal cancer.

Mme Zaradny talks of the 20-minute “martyrdom” of a toro bravo, whose greatest satisfaction is to kill, after six years of roaming free on the plains of Andalusia.
It has in the ring the admittedly painful pleasure of fighting (a horn in the groin is more painful and dangerous for a matador than a bandarilla) and the honour of dying courageously. Better this than an everyday death.

I once had the misfortune to be shown round a corned-beef factory in Argentina. There I watched young animals being funnelled one by one into a little pit in which a concrete block was dropped on their heads. They were then hauled up on a hook, more often stunned than dead, and ripped open with a chain saw. But what is more inoffensive than a tin of corned beef?

For all those who wish to ban bullfighting I offer this sincere advice from Ernest Hemingway: There will always be boys who grow up wanting to fight bulls. The only way to end professional bullfighting is to send all examples of this ancient breed of fighting bull to the slaughterhouse.
This is the “final solution”. I say let them die fighting.
A. David Hogarth
Mirepoix

As our family is Anglo/ Hispanic I have heard from the Spanish side all the defences, too tenuous and absurd to list here, for bull-fighting. The bottom line is simply that it is indefensible to torture animals in this way.
I went to a bullfight, many years ago; I forced myself to go so that I could speak with some authority on the matter.
In the chain of nature I believe we are meant to eat meat. If anyone wishes to label me a hypocrite, I can live with that but eating animal products and torturing those same animals to death are poles apart. I would encourage everybody to take a stand against this dreadful 'sport'.
If the bloated institution called the European Parliament only achieves one success, it might be to eliminate such wanton cruelty to animals.
Michael R Preston
By email

The toreadors have a choice to be there, the bulls do not.
In this day and age it is not acceptable to torture an animal to death just for fun.
The horses can also suffer terrible injuries. I feel sick just looking at the pictures.
Pam Jones
Morbihan

From time immemorial people have been intrigued by the spectacle of violence inflicted on others, be they people or animals. It seems a strange quirk of human nature. One hopes that in more recent times, at least in countries not at war, a more civilised society can develop. In such societies the threshold one must step over before committing a violent act is hopefully raised, meaning one is less likely to resort to violence in any situation. I think that the experience and even the spectacle of serious violence, especially in an ambiance of 'entertainment', is likely to lower that threshold, to the detriment of society.

Bullfighting should follow gladiators and bear-baiting, where dogs were goaded to attack a chained bear, into the history books. That some find these things fascinating, as some do too in violence in pornography and paedophilia, is insufficient reason to justify them.
R. Vernon
Aude

Although I personally find the whole bullfighting thing abhorrent, as British immigrants I believe it is not our place to dictate the French culture.
Paula King
By Email

Photo: André Viard