As singer Hannah Montana once sang, “Life’s what you make it”. Whether that be a life that is long or a life that is brief, Hannah Montana believes that each individual can choose their path as they please. In the short story “Joyas Voladores” by Brian Doyle, Doyle agrees with Hannah Montana, however, he has a preference for what kind of life should be led. With a close analysis of the text, it is demonstrated that “Joyas Voladores” is about the desire of a long and fulfilling life and how humans live based on their preference, through Doyle’s symbolic use of hummingbirds and blue whales. 

The first, and most thorough, example that Brian Doyle gives in his text is the hummingbird. He starts by listing the traits, characteristics, and the abilities of these creatures and continuously illustrates how fast the hummingbird’s heart beats, despite its small size. Doyle also examines that not only is the hummingbird’s heartbeat fast, but everything that the hummingbird is or does is rapid and swift. He speaks of their “immense ferocious metabolisms” and their “race-car hearts that eat oxygen at an eye-popping rate” (Doyle, 95). Throughout the text, readers continue to hear adjectives that describe how fast and fascinating a hummingbird is, until finally, Doyle begins to communicate the unfavorable side of life for these animals. He states that “The price of their ambition is death” (95) and that with being so speedy comes more heart attacks and heart-based injuries for hummingbirds than any other animal. Doyle says, “It’s expensive to fly. You burn out” (95); going so fast ultimately hurts the hummingbird because eventually its body will break down. Even an animal as capable as the hummingbird can’t live a long, yet hurried life, which is why they only live for about two years. With this symbolic example of the hummingbird, readers see that Brian Doyle doesn’t agree with the type of lifestyle that these animals live. He starts off by stating how talented and fascinating hummingbirds are, only to ultimately show that their fast character causes disaster and that the way these animals live is not the right way. He later describes what the right way of life is through the blue whale.

The blue whale, Brian Doyle’s second example, shows what he thinks is the right way of life because a longer life is equivalent to a more fulfilling life. Doyle talks briefly about the lifespan of a blue whale. He states the length of the animal when it is born versus the length of it when it is seven to eight years old. This allows the readers to recognize that blue whales live longer and more drawn out lives than hummingbirds. And the longer a life, the more one can achieve, which is what makes it better than a hummingbird’s life. One statement that Doyle says about the blue whale is that they are under researched. The readers can see that he is irritated by this when he states, “There are perhaps ten thousand blue whales in the world, living in every ocean on earth, and of the largest animal who ever lived we know nearly nothing” (95). Doyle’s annoyed and frustrated tone about this subject is clear. With his tone, the readers are able to sense that Doyle prefers the blue whale’s life over the hummingbird’s. This literary device demonstrates that Doyle believes it would be more beneficial to study the lives of blue whales, since they are a symbol of how people should be living their lives.

Doyle ends by relating these symbols to the lives of humans. He brings up the fact that each individual has the choice to live like a hummingbird or live like a whale. In essence, people can live fast lives or people can live full lives. However, it is obvious that Doyle prefers the longevity of a blue whale’s life and that is shown when he says, “… all hearts finally are bruised and scarred, scored and torn…” (96). No matter how fragile, every individual will get their heart broken. However, this is not an excuse to stop living. When a hummingbird’s heart aches, it dies. Yet, Doyle further explains that all hearts will at some point be repaired, whether it be through character or force (96). Hummingbirds are so fragile that they don’t give their hearts a chance to heal and become repaired. Doyle also explains, through several examples, that with a long life comes moments that are varied in their decency, but nonetheless are moments to experience. These are the kinds of moments one can only experience with a long and fulfilling life. 

Brian Doyle’s thoughts about a long life versus a short life are clear through his examples of hummingbirds and blue whales as symbols for human lives. Although he starts off with connotations that seem positive with his example of the hummingbird, the readers quickly see it turn to a negative when he talks about how short-lived and fragile they are. With the blue whale example, the frustrated tone that is depicted when Doyle talks about how under-researched these animals are shows that he believes they should be paid more attention to. His final thought is when the readers see his preference for a long life. Doyle believes people are able to get more out of a long life if they follow the path of a blue whale, because he believes they are more worthwhile and more complete. Hummingbirds, although they have many capabilities, are only able to use those capabilities for a short period of time due to their quick lifespan. On the other hand, blue whales and humans have the ability to take life by the arm and really, thoroughly, live.