

Regret: the feeling of sorrow or remorse for an act, thought, or disappointment. Throughout the short story, “Joyas Volardores,” Brian Doyle utilizes several different forms of syntax and descriptive adjectives to portray the human body and life itself. Each individual dictation used intrigues the reader to follow along with the story until the final point is made about the human heart and to live a life full of satisfaction. Doyle utilizes rhetorical devices like adjectives, scientific vernacular, and a varied pace to make a statement about human life; the lack of openness and experience can lead to a life of regret. The story has a scientific approach with the use of factual descriptions of various animals, however with a twist of adjectives and lack of punctuation, changes the tone from factual, to a more poetic piece of writing. The story depicts various objects that are graspable to the reader, like that of a hummingbird’s heart, to connect it to a much broader statement about love, and how the choices in life can lead to regret if they are not taken with precaution.  

Starting the story with the first sentence, a clear message for the reader is: “Consider the hummingbird for a long moment” (Doyle 94). As “long moment” can be easily skipped over by the reader, every word choice is intentional. Not as an adjective as to how to view a hummingbird, but for the reader to read this short story slowly, and to consider the various usages of words. Each wordy description may seem irrelevant, but they are in fact used to grab the attention of the reader. All of the deliberate word alternatives makes the reader very engaged and active throughout the story, and even makes it seem as if one is reading a long poem rather than a short story. Using punctuation to guide the pace and flow for the reader: “Hummingbirds, like all flying birds but more so, have incredible enormous immense ferocious metabolisms” (95) helps with pace. The use of missing commas makes the reader’s pace very rapid, corresponding to that of a hummingbird’s heartbeat. Personification is shown when word choices are exaggerated to emphasize them; “It is waaaaay bigger than your car” (95), emphasizes how we view whales as typically slow moving mammals, by the drawn out key words. Switching the flow of the story, the key words and short choppy sentences slows the reader’s pace to be more stagnant. While before, the lack of commas, and no pausing quick sentences used to describe hummingbirds, depicts their fluttery, fast daily activities. Showing the differences, reading the story takes effort and a “long time”, to understand each tactic. Referring back to the opening sentence of “Joyas Volardores”, it can be inferred that every use of personification and pronunciation, should be read slowly, to ensure that the reader grasps his message; life’s a choice and you must live it full heartedly. The story changes in punctuation from a seemingly unsophisticated, and grammatically wrong, to a very precise and to the point argument. The reader can infer that this change emphasizes the point that without caution, and being carefree, can lead to regret in life.

The descriptions about the bustling life of a hummingbird, the precise miles and hours spent collecting nectar, and the historical reason for their existence in the Americas makes the first part of the essay sound like a scientific research paper. However, when describing the reason for their name; the reader is introduced to the odd, and unfamiliar adjectives that most scientific papers would eliminate.  

“Joyas Volardoes, flying jewels, the first white explorers in the Americas called them, and the white men had never seen such creatures, for hummingbirds came into the world only in the Americas, nowhere else in the universe, more than three hundred species of them whirring and zooming and nectaring in hummer time zones nine times removed from ours, their hearts hammering faster than we could clearly hear if we pressed our elephantine ears to their infinitesimal chests” (94).

This is the first instance that the story turns into a more complicated, and poetic piece. The use of run-on sentences helps to pick up the pace for the reader, when describing the fast, upbeat hummingbird’s life. Words like, “…crimson topazes and purple-crowned fairies, red-tailed comets and amethyst woodstars, rainbow-bearded thornbills and glittering-bellied emeralds, velvet-purple coronets and golden-bellied star frontlets...” (95), creates a more metaphorical sense and gives the reader imagery instead of thinking this piece is a scientific one. As the author puts these peculiar descriptions in, the reader can infer that this tactic is used to make the story easier to read and connects the reader more emotionally with humorous adjectives and similes. The story continues to use the tactic of scientific minutiae’s, while comparing them with amusing adjectives. As the story continues and flows, the scientific feel is gradually replaced, as a more dynamic imagery begins to unfold. The scientific approach gives the feeling that, as readers, we can have actual facts that we know about life. However, the changing flow from scientific, to metaphoric, depicts the idea that life isn’t all facts. There can be many ways to observe it, however one must not take it for granted because they come to disappointment when opportunities are missed. The use of metaphors on familiar objects, helps formulate a connection on a topic of life and love, which may be hard to grasp for many.

The compatriotism of animal characteristics, like the fragile hummingbird, to that of a strong tortoise, is the clever tactic to get the message across of the speed of life. “Every creature on earth has approximately two billion heartbeats to spend in a lifetime. You can spend them slowly, like a tortoise and live to be two hundred years old, or you can spend them fast, like a hummingbird, and live to be two years old” (95); depicts the difference between a short fast paced and very quick uncertain life, like a hummingbird; to a slow and traditional life, like a tortoise. This clever way to personify life into the characteristics of an animal, displays the reader with what truly goes into each lifestyle.

“Consider for a moment those hummingbirds who did not open their eyes again today, this very day, in Americas…each of the most amazing thing you have never seen, each thunderous wild heart the size of an infant’s fingernail, each mad heart silent, a brilliant music stilled” (95).

The hummingbird is presented to live a very exciting and busy, yet fragile and uncertain life. The precious life of a hummingbird, can be stopped at any moment. The reader can infer from the dramatic compatriotism, that the point of a fast paced and unstable life, can be unpredictable. The clear connection between the factual evidence of a hummingbird’s strenuous life, “…they suffer more heart attacks and aneurysms and ruptures than any other living creature” (95), can be related to that of a human life, if careful cautions are not taken, one can live with regret and heartache.  All of the carefully used metaphors used throughout the story changes the language and gives the reader a better compatriotism to the different lifestyle choices. The author does not point out which life choice is better, but the reader can infer from the compatriotism of the hummingbird to the tortoise which outcome will be long lasting.

Imagery is a key component throughout the story, as the precise image of a giant whale’s heart and the heartbeat given off, introduces the topic of love. While describing the massive size of a whale’s heart in compatriotism to the hummingbirds, it is an enormous difference; “It’s as big as a room. It is a room, with four chambers. A child could walk around it, head high, bending only to step through the valves” (95). With this new profound image, the story switches to a deeper meaning, and a new connection to a much larger object in the story. With that being said, the visualization of the massive size of a whale’s heart, creates a deeper feeling that this powerful creature loves to be with one of its kind. This can be referred to for how one should love in life, that even a dominant mammal like a whale, would still rather be in the company of another. The author puts in dramatic and particular adjectives to describe the cry of a whale; “…and their penetrating moaning cries, their piercing yearning tongue, can be heard underwater for miles and miles” (96), to connect the factual evidence of a whale, with the attention grabbing adjectives, to inforce a deeper meaning about humans and their similarity characteristics about love. The visual image of a giant and independent whale, still fearful to be alone, helps to formulate a better connection that as independent humans, it is still in our nature to love.  

The tone in the story switches and changes gradually throughout, as the beginning is seemed as a stodgy, nonfictional paper on animals. However, as the story progresses and the lack of commas and varied adjectives changes, the tone develops into a more humorous story; with comparing animals that seem to be so different, like that of a hummingbird to a whale. The reader is warned when an even deeper tone is approaching to the story, ‘“We all churn inside” (96). Entering the last paragraph of the story, the tone switches to a very sorrowful one. As the humorous adjectives and wordy sentences disperse, the author talks about the humans themselves, with a very regretful and somber tone.

“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). 

Having a better visualization, the story informs the reader that being emotionally torn, seems to be one of the biggest burdens we face in life, but we must all face it. The thought that we are all torn, presented by the profound idea that humans should not close themselves up from being hurt. Such actions will end with a feeling of sorrow, compared to the tone of the last paragraph. Likewise, the image of a wall that is presented, shows the reader that even with the thought of fear, one cannot fully protect themselves. The very descriptive phrases and instances at the end of the last paragraph gets the reader emotionally attached to the story, and to form a connection; that we have all felt pain: “I have something to tell you...” (96). These detailed examples can all have different meanings to the individual readers, but will all formulate some connection to pain one has felt. The new connection to these powerful phrases helps connect to the idea that openness may lead to heartache, but without the experience in life, one is solemnly left with regrets.

The story leaves the reader with a new feeling compared to the one presented at the beginning, with lighthearted facts on hummingbirds. All of the syntaxes used to guide the flow of the story, being read at various paces, give it the poetic feel. Also the use of particular adjectives changes the tone from factual and monotonous, to an attention grabber that helps formulate a connection for the reader. Many metaphors and similarities are dispersed throughout the story to compare the heart to other objects; “You fry the machine” (95), is a metaphor used to describe the hummingbirds dying heart. These carefully used tactics grab the attention of the reader and help formulate a connection, for the compatriotism of the human life and the choices one faces to be satisfied. If read too rapid, the very precise adjectives will be missed and only the scientific descriptions will be presented, which do not connect one emotionally. Being read for a, “long moment”, will service to fully understand how to read each sentence, and truly embrace the message of life, and the openness to feel satisfied.
