Brian Doyle made use of several literary elements in his short story, "Joyas Volardores."  A few noteworthy ones are:  symbolism, point of view and imagery.  Doyle used point of view and imagery to construct an entire passage full of symbolism.  Two central messages are being portrayed in this essay.  One central message is that the heart controls every aspect of life.  The other is that life is not about how big your heart is, but rather how hard you allow it to work.  

In the beginning, Doyle draws the reader's attention by giving a simple thought for the reader to keep in mind.  Doyle instructs the reader to "consider the humming bird for a long moment" (64).  He chose the words "long moment" so the reader would not lose this thought throughout the course of the essay.  Then Doyle begins to describe the physical structure of the hummingbird's heart.  In this description, he writes about the small structure of the hummingbird's heart while contrasting that with a description of how rapidly it works.  Even after writing about the small size of the hummingbird's heart, Doyle goes on to write simply, yet powerfully, that the heart "is a lot of the humming bird" (64).  This is the exact point where he begins to paint the picture that everything in life is made up of heart.  This "heart" can be considered in many different forms:  physically, socially and emotionally. The heart controls each of these concepts.  Soon after, Doyle begins to describe how productive and agile the hummingbird is.  He points out that despite the physical size of the hummingbird, it is still capable of visiting a thousand flowers a day.  At this point, the author begins his strategic usage of imagery and word choice to set the mood he desires to convey to the reader.  The mood switches from an inspiring one considering how productive the bird is to a more somber mood as he describes that it nears death every time it has to rest.  Also, Doyle uses symbolism at this same point in the essay.  He writes that if the birds cannot be warmed and do not reach "that which is sweet, their hearts grow cold, and cease to be" (65).  I believe this symbolizes love in humans.  That which is sweet is what warms our hearts as well.  Doyle then encourages the reader to "consider for a moment those birds who did not open their eyes again today " (65).  This represents a more somber mood, but then Doyle shifts the mood as he begins to describe the bird and its vividly bright colors.  Soon after a picture is painted of this bright and colorful bird, Doyle's imagery gives the reader no choice but to picture the bird alive and vibrant.  And once again, he reminds the reader that this is the bird whose "heart is silent" (65). These are the birds who didn't reach that which is sweet.  

In the middle of the essay he begins with great word choice once again.  Doyle goes back to describe the physical structure and function of the heart driving their metabolisms.  He even goes so far as to compare these hearts to race cars.  These are exact same hearts that were once described as the size of a pencil eraser, but now they are being compared to a race car! This is the beginning of the central message. It's not about how big the heart is, but how hard you allow it work.  He then compares the hummingbird's heart to the heart of a human.  Human hearts seem to be somewhat lethargic when compared to a hummingbird's heart.  They have more mitochondria in their heart muscles than we do.  Doyle explains that this is because the hummingbird's heart will do "anything to gulp more oxygen" (65).  Due to the fact that oxygen is required for all life, this symbolizes the hummingbird's heart doing anything to get the most out of life.  Doyle goes on to write that "the price of their ambition is a life closer to death " (65).  In other words, hummingbirds pay a price to receive this much out of one lifetime.  No other creature dies of cardiac issues more than the hummingbird.  The author also makes a reference to the lifespan of a tortoise compared to that of the hummingbird.  He says that "every creature on earth has approximately two billion heartbeats to spend in a lifetime" (66).  You get to choose how you live yours.  Next he compares the heart of a blue whale, the largest heart in the world, to the hummingbird's heart.  Once more he uses imagery to depict a picture of the blue whale's heart. Doyle accomplishes this by making a reference to the size of a human child.  A child could literally walk around inside of this enormous heart.  Even though the heart of this creature is so large, this is a very coy creature.  Humans know very little about the daily life of a blue whale.  While we aren't sure about many aspects of a blue whale's life, we are certain that even this mysterious animal likes to travel in pairs.  Even the whale needs "that which is sweet."  

  Finally, Doyle concludes his essay by breaking down the heart of almost every complexity of life.  He writes about the chambers in every heart.  He is foreshadowing that these chambers are rooms in which we store every aspect of our life.  As he is breaking down each heart, he explains that we all churn inside.  The churning is caused by our hearts; this is what drives everything that we do.  Next he writes, "so much is held in a heart in a lifetime" (66).  I believe Doyle means that we reside in our own heart. "We open windows to each but we live alone " (66).  We allow people to see certain things within heart, but never allow anyone full access.  Through personal experience and maturity, we learn that those who have complete access to our hearts also have the capability to control us.  Then he writes about how we begin to build up barriers around our hearts to keep others out of what belongs to us.  Even though we build these barriers, there are things that are capable of tearing them down.  He ends the essay by describing little things that can tear these barriers down.  After having the reader so engaged in deep thought of what the heart really is, he brings the reader back to his central point.  Doyle suggests that no matter how big or small something is, it is capable of having an enormous impact on one's life. 

Brian Doyle uses three main literary elements to portray two messages to his readers.  He used point of view and imagery to create an entire essay full of symbolism of the heart.  One of these messages is that life is not about how big one's heart is, but how hard one allows it to work.  The next is that the heart controls every aspect of every life.  No matter how big or small anything is, it is capable of making an enormous impact on whatever it comes in contact with.  

