
In Brian Doyle’s “Joyas Volardores,” he uses the many ways of life and the different purposes of the hearts within different creatures to portray its true and hidden beauty. Doyle compares a hummingbird and whale to a human in order to show how the value of their hearts, the one thing that serves as the true physical purpose for a functioning body, is appreciated. Throughout this comparison between animal and human, Doyle uses his diction to help exemplify and show the importance of the heart to each creature through his tone. Brian Doyle developes the importance of the heart to show a contrast of significance between the animals and humans in order to establish the fear of vulnerability that is oblivious to humans. 

Doyle first uses hummingbirds, with small hearts not doing justice to their numerous amount of abilities, to exemplify the true purpose of the heart through a shift in tone. Doyle begins by showing admiration for the hummingbirds’ incredible range of talents like flying at high speeds and the places it can go all while having the heart of a pencil eraser. Doyle begins his shift of tone when the revealing the ultimate price to their fight, “But when the rest they come close to death: on frigid nights, or when they are starving, they retreat into torpor, their metabolic rate slowing to a fifteenth their normal sleep rate” (95). Within Doyle’s shift of tone one can see the danger for a hummingbird to rest, which definitely is being manipulated to create a pity for the flying jewel. Inside the quote, the use of the words “but” and  “death” furthermore signals the change from admiration to mourning. This quote is very significant because it shows how the daring little bird uses it’s heart to the fullest potential possible. How even after they are in the face of death, after they have experienced torpor, a state of inactivity, and the risks at which they live their life, the individuality is what made them admirable. 

Doyle again shows admiration to the hummingbirds especially through the structure of their feeble hearts. Their work is once again noted, “The price of their ambition is a life closer to death; they suffer more heart attacks and aneurysms and ruptures than any other living creature” (Doyle 95). The fact that they endure more trauma compared to the many other living creatures is very significant when considering the amount of flight and the constant need of the movement that they must upkeep to continue with their lives. When considering as to why Doyle turned to a hummingbird for admiration of life it is very evident, they live for themselves doing what they were made to do. They have essentially come to terms of what their heart is able to provide for them in terms of voyage and know that it is themselves who can determine how far to push, this can be seen in their two year lifespan (Doyle 95). 

Doyle’s admiration towards the blue whale can mainly be seen through his diction of their unknown, yet simple way of life. Doyle begins by saying, “It drinks a hundred gallons of milk from its mama every day and gains two hundred pounds a day, when it is seven or eight years old it endures an unimaginable puberty and then it essentially disappears from human ken,” (95). Doyle begins this description of the whale by characterizing them with human qualities, explaining how they undergo dramatic changes before fading into the unknown. It is important to note his informal use of the word “mama”, furthermore emphasizes the comparison to humans and his admiration of such. Doyle then goes on to describe the mysteries of the blue whale, “For next to nothing is known of the mating habits, travel patterns, diet, social life, language, social structure, diseases, spirituality, wars, stories, despairs and arts of the blue whale” (95). Normally when thinking of animals the thought of them having a certain diet or travel pattern or language is not taboo. However the idea of them adopting spirituality, despairs, stories, wars, or having an art to their ways is one that, especially when used by Doyle, places them on the same level as humanity. The fact that Doyle gives the blue whales this sort of ownership of such things is very important because this shows the direct comparison to those of humans, which is something that humans only choose to endure with their hearts. It is also important to consider that he mentions this after stating that their life after this time is non-existent. Doyle’s admiration of the blue whales is mainly at the beauty of their secretive life they have inevitably lived. “With hearts massive enough to room a child and bodies of a hundred feet long,” (Doyle 95) they have remained to carry on with their individual lives, with hearts churning. The beauty behind the blue whale, much like the hummingbird, is that the heart’s intent is being used to it's potential. In this Doyle is highlighting the mystery behind the blue whale and within that, an admiration for their way of life and how effortlessly it is carried. Since its habits are so unfamiliar to the common knowledge the fact that it’s heart is churning and propelling for itself and not to fulfill some outer-self idea, is what makes it's very admirable. 

As Doyle begins to describe the extent to which the purpose of a human heart is fulfilled, he uses diction to show, in comparison to the animals, a human’s fear of vulnerability. Doyle states, “We open windows to each but we live alone in the house of the heart” (96). Notice that Doyle uses the word “We” which includes himself in this fear, showing that despite the individual goals of a person, ultimately this fact is often ignored, whether voluntary or not. He then continues to say, “Perhaps we could not bear to be so naked, for fear of a constantly harrowed heart” (Doyle 96). Contrary to prior appraise towards the animal’s attempts at life, he rather looks at the human heart as one that is too reliant on the heart as being an something to be fulfilled. In other words, he views humans to be so keen on the idea of living up to the potential of what is in their life, rather than just living for themselves and what they are instinctively meant to do. It is said again, “You can brick up your heart as stout and tight and cold and hard and impregnable as you possibly can and down it comes in an instant” (Doyle 96). Whether is it evident to humans or not the fact that we are physically alone in the heart is not one often accepted or agreed to, for maybe religious, relationships, or individuality, it is widely declined. Doyle is furthermore emphasizing the fear of vulnerability or not being able to find a purpose for their heart to latch onto, especially for fear of a harrowed heart. 

When comparing the uses of the animal heart to that of the human’s, it is evident that Doyle used the animals as a representation of true serenity. Throughout this extended comparison, it is established that the animals are the true hearts that live to their fullest extent, whether it is visible or not. This can be seen through admiration of them and through his change of tone when addressing this. As he acknowledges the habits of the hummingbird and how influential it is, he tends to change the tone by discussing how their dedication to utilizing their hearts can be negatively impact their health. As for the blue whale his respect stems from their ability to live their lives in secret or essentially for themselves and not for the pleasure of others. They are also those of the hearts who have come to terms with individuality, meaning that it is understood amongst themselves that in the end it is them and them only. The beauty that is admired within these animals is just that, the ability to carry on with the life lived and to continue to exercise the heart to its full potential for the individuality. With Doyle’s constant use of “we” while discussing humans and how we cannot quite live like such, it shows that even those who recognize the beauty of such animals and their way of life cannot help but act the way all humans do, oblivious to the fact that is a common fear of a harrowed heart. Doyle also ends his direct comparison between humans and animals by saying, “We all churn inside,” (96). When writing about both humans and animals he uses the animal’s actions almost as a foil to the hearts of humans, by highlighting the activities that they take on that does not serve a purpose for anything else but the one being. All while showing appreciation for this and acknowledging that this is not a trait that can be adopted by humans because humans view the heart as void that must be filled. 

Doyle effectively develops the importance of the heart through the contrast of human and animal, to help convey that humans can never live to the heart’s full potential because of a fear of vulnerability. It can be seen throughout the passage and also the fact that Doyle also incorporates that element of self-acknowledgement to this undeniable natural human instinct. With his shifting of tone to create pity for the hummingbird that must continue moving to keep from dying or the blue whale’s ability to keep their whole life secretive and his diction can it also be seen the ways of life as to what he admires and why humans should try and adopt such ways of living.
