
The heart is what connects humans to the other species of our planet. Brian Doyle was able to use examples of other animals throughout Joyas Volardores to connect to the ability of a human to love one another. The use of the heart of a hummingbird and that of a blue whale allowed one to directly see how each applied to the heart of a human. The human heart is symbolic of one’s emotions, and how those emotions affect everyday thoughts and actions. Doyle used the physical properties of the hearts of hummingbirds and blue whales in order to portray a deeper meaning of the symbolic purpose of the human heart. He was able to show the flaws involved with the heart, and how those flaws plague anyone and everyone. He wished to prove that no one leaves this life without their heart taking a beating, and the scar tissue left behind shapes one’s journey. Doyle used a combination of metaphors, similes, and repetition throughout Joyas Volardores in order to develop his argument that the heart and its emotions are fragile, and the vulnerability of the heart is everywhere to be seen.

Doyle moved his argument by using a metaphor necessary to show that while not all hearts are the same, every heart takes on the same burden. While discussing the way the heart works in a hummingbird, Doyle states that hummingbirds “have race-car hearts that eat oxygen at an eye-popping rate” (Doyle 95). The metaphor creates a clear image of how fast the hummingbird’s heart beats just to sustain a life. Yet, the metaphor is more important in the way it connects to humans rather than birds. A race-car moves at an extremely fast speed, and is a very hard working car. The metaphor allows the reader to get a direct picture of how hard a heart has to work to maintain some sense of stability, which is a rare trait when it comes to love and emotions. Doyle’s argument comes into play as the “race-car heart” is an extremely fragile thing. One minute, it can be at a peak, fully in love, or cruising at the front of the race with everything completely calm and under control. The next minute, however, can be vastly opposite. The love one had is suddenly gone, and the race-car crashes into the side wall, the driver without control or sense of direction. It is this rapid change from peak of the mountain to bottom of the abyss that reminds everyone just how vulnerable emotions and love can be. Doyle’s argument is beginning to really stick, as the vulnerability of the heart is now seen through a different lens. It is yet another instance where Doyle has proved that vulnerability within emotions lies everywhere, and there is no predicting how or when it will occur. That lack of a concrete future for emotions, whether it be a victory in the race, or a devastating crash, is what sustains the frailty of emotions for all.

Doyle uses simile to show that, no matter how easily a heart is pushed, people will choose to be vulnerable time after time. Doyle broke down the physical properties of the heart of the blue whale. He noted that, in the blue whale, the “valves are as big as the swinging doors in a saloon” (Doyle 95). The reference to saloon doors was no accident. Saloon doors can be pushed open easily, and in both directions. That is the main fault of the heart. People go all in when it comes to love, and often times that leads to a gaping hole left wide open, as it does with a saloon door when it is pushed open fully. Doyle aims to show how vulnerable people are when entering love in any manner. The frailty of those emotions stand out in particular in this part of Doyle’s argument. His argument begins to gain traction, and move forward, as he focuses on how a person’s emotions are fragile and can be pushed and pulled in every which way in the same manner as a saloon door.

Doyle’s use of repetition was vital in order for him to close his argument. His repeated use of the word “not” helped show that no one can save another from the vulnerability of the heart, and no one is powerful enough to escape it themselves. While concluding his argument, Doyle reiterates how “we are utterly open with no one in the end – not mother and father, not wife or husband, not lover, not child, not friend” (Doyle 96). Doyle’s use of “not” in such a short and quick way drove home his point. No one in life can seal the heart and protect its frailty. Everyone is faulted by the same problem when it comes to the heart. No one can escape it. The repetition draws attention to that sentence. The reader gains a sense of awe when recognizing that even the most important people in one’s life, family and friends, cannot protect one from being hurt. Doyle needed the repetition to complete his argument. The whole piece was spent focusing on how everyone is affected by the heart, and how its vulnerability is forever evident. The use of this repetition was a way for Doyle to clearly label that everyone is affected by the hearts frailty. The reader comprehends easily, therefore, that vulnerable emotions is not a problem related to solely themselves. It creates a sense of unity with others, and a sense of understanding for people’s actions. Doyle has completed his intentions, as it is now obvious that the vulnerability of the heart is everywhere to be seen, within everyone it touches.

Thus, Doyle’s use of figurative devices in Joyas Volardores proved how fragile a heart and its emotions are, and how everyone is touched by the vulnerability involved. Doyle effectively used a combination of metaphors, similes, and repetition in order to expand his argument. The simile and metaphor helped to further Doyle’s argument, and the repetition drove it home. The heart may give the gift of life, but its most important gift may be the emotions it allows one to feel. 