

Brian Doyle titles the story Joyas Volardores based on what the first white explorers called the humming bird- a flying jewel. This title also encompasses the multiple other meanings of the story because while it mainly represents the humming bird there are multiple other “jewels” that Doyle talks about; such as the uniqueness of all animal hearts, mostly a whale’s, and of love.  Also in this short story there is a jump from one aspect of the story, animals and their heart beats, to another aspect of the story, humans and how they fall in love. Both of these ideas are related to hearts and the idea of “jewels” but the jump the author makes is very interesting and sudden and not excepted. In looking at Joyas Volardores one can see imagery which exemplifies inanimate objects, this is significant because it ties together the theme of love, hearts and jewels present in the title and throughout the short story. 

Joyas Volardores means “flying jewel” (94 Doyle) in Spanish. This name was given to the humming birds by the first white men who saw the humming birds when they landed in America. The description of a humming bird is very interesting. Instead of calling them some type of bird, the Spanish called them flying jewels. Was it because of their bright color and their fast flying? Jewels can’t fly they are objects. Why call them jewels? What aspect of the humming bird reminded the Spanish of a jewel? Was it the uniqueness of the bird, the fact that jewels were hard to find and so were humming birds. Not only had the Spanish never seen a humming bird before, but they flew so fast it was very hard to get a good glimpse of them when they did see them.

Joyas Volardores, the title, is oddly used in this story. There is only one line of description about the title and it is only in the part about the humming bird. And while most of the story is about humming birds and their beauty, the title surely is meant to encompass the whole story. The title could also be talking about beating hearts that Doyle describes, and other things that could be compared to jewels.  Doyle also talks about the beauty and uniqueness of these three species- humans, humming birds and whales. Each is different yet each is similar. They are different in shape, size, the way they fall in love, and how they are described by the author. They are similar in that they each has a beating heart and they each fall in love or find a mate at some point in their lives. 

Brian Doyle specifically describes the different aspects of humming birds, and whales. Each has a heart, but they are different sizes and function in different ways. “Every creature on earth has approximately two billion heartbeats to spend in a lifetime.” (95)  Doyle says that a humming bird’s heart is the size of a pencil eraser, a whale’s heart is the size of room. “It weighs more than seven tons. It is as big as a room.” (95) Why does Doyle use pencil erasers and a room to describe the hearts of these animals? Why not just say the measurements of them? Pencil erasers and rooms are everyday boring objects, but the author choses to use them to describe the animal’s hearts. There is nothing exceptional about a pencil eraser or a room, but they do provide an excellent visual description of what Doyle is trying to describe. Humming birds and whales are exceptional animals, they are so different from each other, yet both have a heart beat and need a beating heart to live. 

The final paragraph is very different from the rest of the story. While it talks about hearts and love, this paragraph strays away from the scientific way Doyle presents his other paragraphs. This paragraph talks about love. It focuses on humans and how they fall in love. He describes a human heart as less of something that is needed to help us live, like he did with humming birds and whales, and more of something that we hold everything in. We hold everything in our heats, “So much I held in a heart in a lifetime. So much held in a heart in a day, an hour, a moment.” (96) Without our hearts we would not know love:

“When young we think there will come one person who will savor and sustain us always; when we are older we know this is the dream of a child, that all hearts finally are bruised and scarred, scored and torn, repaired by time and will, patched by force of character, yet fragile and rickety forevermore, no matter how ferocious the defense and how many bricks you bring to the wall.” (96) 

Love is one of the hardest concept in our world. It is like magic because it is so unbelievable. Our hearts are connected to our love, yet they are just an organ. However here our hearts are jewels that we sometimes allow people to have. Our hearts are like diamonds in that way. None of them are the same and they are all a little messed up. We give them away but only to the right person. Love is a mystery, love in our hearts is a mystery. 

No creature lives without a heart. Every animal on the planet has a heart that helps them to survive. “No living being is without interior liquid motion. We all churn inside.” (96) Without a heart, animals and humans would be motionless and cold. Hearts keep humans and animals warm. Hearts also help animals and humans fall in love. They help humans to find that one special someone to spend their eternity with even if this a myth. Every human wants to find that special someone to fall in love with, to feel that special flutter in their heart when they see the person they love. To find the true about the mystery behind love. Hearts are the keys to love. Unlocking someone heart allows that human or animal to fall in love with the one unlocking. Doyle’s short story embraces all that is true about hearts and love. He tries to find the secret behind what love means and relate it to a flying jewel.