Letter to the Editor

Tegucigalpa, M.D.C                                                                                                                                                        June 17^th, 2016                                                                                                                                                                  John Leigh                                                                                                                                                                                                Writer of Men at Arms                                                                                                                                                                          Harvard University Press

Dear Mr. John Leigh,

I am writing in reference to your article Touché: The Duel in Literature.  I must admit that I have been greatly impressed by what you have stated in your article. I completely agree with what Guy de Maupassant declared about duels; they are indeed, and I quote: ¨the last of our unreasonable customs¨. Despite the fact that dueling is an old-fashioned folly that is only fought by hotheaded men, you make quite an interesting point when you say that ¨the duel is a form of civilized, ordered violence, ostentatiously different from the brawls and other, lower forms of aggression¨. This could be seen as one of the best supported reasons as to why dueling, all thought frowned upon, has not ceased to exist. After all, there have been many times when duels have saved nations from going into war. As I say this, a character from G.K. Chesterton´s novel, who stopped a suspect from exploding a bomb by challenging him to a duel, comes to mind. With the rising violence that humans are facing in the 21^st century, duels almost seem remarkably measured. Having spoken out my mind, all I can say is: Touché.

Sincerely,

Nancy Silva Buezo