“So much held in a heart in a lifetime. So much held in a heart in a day, hour, moment”(Doyle, 94). In Doyle’s short story, “Joyas Valadores,” the author describes three animals’ hearts in great detail: the hummingbird, the whale and the tortoise. He does this to give value to the aspect of life and elaborate on how to live it. He shows that the hummingbird lives life so fast and goes a hundred miles an hour at every single thing it does. He depicts the whale, with its massive size and lifespan. Finally, Doyle shows the tortoise and how slowly its heart moves in comparison to how long it lives. In showing the lifespans and characteristics of each animal, Doyle is showing that life is something not to be taken for granted, but a person has the choice on how to live their life. There is no right or wrong way to live life, Doyle asserts, and it does not matter how fast or slow a person lives, they both get to experience things and live in the moment. Doyle gives different examples of heart sizes and beats to show that life is precious no matter how it is lived.

In this piece, Doyle gives the example of the blue whale and how it’s big heart is a symbol about life. Doyle states about the blue whale, “The biggest heart in the world is inside the blue whale… It's as big as the room” (Doyle, 95). This puts into perspective about how big the heart of a whale really is. It shows that it has a lot of capacity within, and therefore harbors a lot of room for love and compassion throughout the piece of literature. The size of the whale’s heart is massive but it is made this way so that the whale can survive and thrive with the size of its own body. With that being said, it is depicting a whale to symbolize a way to live life. He is showing that no matter the life span of one’s life, one should always try to have a big heart and be compassionate. One is judged not by how fast they live their life but the experiences that they have. The whale symbolizes living slow and taking in the moment while being careful and loving greatly.

On the same spectrum, Doyle goes into detail about the life of a tortoise and the detail of its long life. He talks about how slow a tortoise lives and moves, but mainly how long of a life span the tortoise has. Doyles states about the tortoise, “You can spend them slowly, like a tortoise and live to be two hundred years old” (Doyle, 95). Doyle states the clear fact that a tortoise lives to be two hundred years old and this is very intriguing. The tortoise is a very slow moving animal but it has one of the longest lifespans of any animal there is. Doyle is giving the example of the tortoise to show that like the turtle, people can live life slow and take very few risks. The tortoise does not struggle nor does he put himself into a great deal of danger. It lives its life absent from many exciting things or events. Since the tortoise lives this way, he is able to live a very long time and be very effective in the life that it chooses to live. Doyle is relating this life of a tortoise to the way that a type of human can live. Some humans, Doyle points out, are very slow going and take no risks in life, those who do not ever put their life in danger or live for the thrill of the moment. The tortoise gives the overall life comparison of someone who is easygoing and is very conscientious of the way they live.

Finally, Doyle gives the example of a hummingbird and the way that it lives its life. He talks about how a hummingbird moves so fast and it does so much in its short life. Doyle states about the life of a hummingbird, “You can spend them fast, like a hummingbird, and live to be two years old” (Doyle, 95). Doyle gives the reader the fact that hummingbirds live the average lifespan of about two years but they live them very fast. Hummingbirds do so many things and they live so fast it is quite ridiculous. They go to many flowers and they fly around all day long. With the amount of energy that they use and with the number of things that the little bird does, it could die at any moment. Doyle states about the hummingbird, “A hummingbird's heart is the size of a pencil eraser” (94). This is fact is important because it shows the reader how small the heart of the hummingbird is, but no matter the size the bird is still reluctant and fearless in the way it lives its life. Doyle gives the example of the hummingbird because it is the exact opposite of both the tortoise and the blue whale. While the tortoise and whale are very slow moving and big hearted creatures, the hummingbird is the exact opposite. It has a small heart and is a small creature but it is very busy and a quick moving animal. The hummingbird is the comparison to a person who lives life on the edge and is willing to take the risks in life to have that near-death experience. This person knows that life is precious but they also know that the experiences that one has in life, is the reason that one truly lives. They live for the moment.

In the course of “Joyas Valadores,” with the three examples of animals that Doyle presents, he is presenting the simple message that life is precious. He is showing that no matter how one chooses to live their life, it is precious in that way to them. With the example of the whale, he is showing that it is alright to live a slow life while having a giant heart exuding compassion. The turtle shows that it is alright to be a slow moving person who follows the rules and does nothing out of the ordinary, but does what is necessary to live and last a long time in a dark world. Finally, with the example of the hummingbird, Doyle is showing that it can be beneficial to live life on the edge and never have anything planned out, going a hundred miles per hour at everything. All three of these things are very different ways of life and with this it is showing that no matter how a person lives, it is alright. Life is precious, it is as simple and complex as that. Everybody and everything is different. People make decisions to live life their own way but it is not how one lives that gives life meaning, it is the fact that they are a living being that gives it meaning. He is showing in all these different examples that no matter the life style one chooses, a person can make a difference in the world and do good things with their life. This puts all the different styles of life at and equality. No one style is better and this what the author is showing. A person’s life can be lived no matter how they want to; this is the equality of it. Life comes in many different shapes and fashions, as Doyle shows in his piece of literature, but no matter how different that they are, they all still have those experiences and the compassion that makes all life precious.
