Life is a precious jewel that flies by — What type of jewel will you craft in the time you have here on this planet? The true answer lies within one’s heart, for it holds the destined blueprints for one’s jewel. Brian Doyle’s “Joyas Volardores,” compares the hearts of various creatures and creates many underlying messages that craftily influence the reader. One of the main themes present in Doyle’s essay is to live your life wisely and find balance, but follow your heart and live your life how you desire. Doyle conveys philosophical messages in “Joyas Volardores” by his use of comparison, symbolism and pathos. 

Many comparisons made in Doyle’s work serve the purpose of instilling the theme of living wisely and finding balance in one’s life. In “Joyas Volardores” the heart is often compared to an engine. He informs the reader about the fast pace life of the hummingbird, also called Joyas Volardores, and the consequences of their fast lifestyle. This means if you work yourself too hard like the Hummingbird, then you will as Doyle puts it, “fry the machine” (Doyle 95). The comparison of the hummingbird to the tortoise also really drives home this theme of balance. Doyle says, “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” (Doyle 95). This quote really stands out and leaves the reader in thought as the paragraph suddenly comes to an end. When I read this I pondered; should I live fast and die young, or live a slow and long life? These comparisons show us why one should find balance between ambition and living life because “It’s expensive to fly” (Doyle 95). 

Another element found in “Joyas Volardores” that relays a message larger than the literal meaning of the text is symbolism. The essay begins talking in depth about small, precious creatures known as Joyas Volardores, or flying jewels. They live fast, fragile lives that are gone before you know it. To me the hummingbird symbolizes ones youth. For they are small, precious, full of energy and all over the place just like you were as a child. But just like the hummingbird, ones youth often feels short lived. Time flies as you look back on how much you’ve changed over the years since adolescence. The essay then changes pace to a much larger animal called the blue whale. Blue whales “generally travel in pairs” and they have a “house of a heart” (Doyle 95-96). Blue whales also have the biggest hearts, which are big enough for a child to walk around in (Doyle 95). The blue whale in this essay symbolizes when one grows up and reaches adulthood. Adults, like blue whales, search for a partner to spend their life’s journey with. When adults and blue whales find that partner they procreate and give birth to offspring which nurse from the mother and grow fast. This to me symbolizes when a couple has an innocent newborn and in the blink of an eye their baby has swelled into something else. Also, human parents, like blue whales, have the biggest hearts, which are large enough to house a child. When a blue whale matures “it essentially disappears from human ken” (Doyle 96). This links back to adult life when one’s child grows up so fast and move away, just as with the blue whale. Doyle does a superb job at creating this close symbolism between animals and man. The symbolism throughout the essay connects to the central theme of life and choosing the path which satisfies your heart. 

Lastly, Brian Doyle carefully utilizes human emotion or pathos to emphasize certain themes in his essay. By analyzing the manner in which “Joyas Volardores” plays on the reader’s emotions we can observe the gentle nature of the working heart. The text does a fantastic job of stirring an intense array of emotions in the reader, ranging from happiness to sadness, through its use of tone and vivid description. The essay’s tone initiates itself as an informative essay about the hearts of various animals in order to break down barriers and establish trust in the writer. Initially, the reader feels great joy for these amazing little birds because of their beauty and miraculous heart. However, the reader’s joy is quickly curbed when we are informed these “flying jewels” live a harsh life. The author then elicits an intense feeling of sorrow in the reader when he says “Consider for a moment those hummingbirds who did not open their eyes again today, this very day” (Doyle 95). Doyle really drives home the theme of heartbreak when he lists many beautiful hummingbirds and ends the paragraph with “a brilliant music stilled” (Doyle 95). The last paragraph changes in contrast to the rest of the writing, the last paragraph concludes the essay in a depressing tone. The essay goes from scientific and upbeat to melancholy when he changes to a more ideological approach to the heart. The gloomy closing sentence to “Joyas Volardores” creates an inevitable heartbreak, which just goes to show the inescapable sorrow our hearts will eventually endure. Doyle’s uncanny ability to play with the readers emotions allows him to drive home the theme that the heart is a delicate instrument of life for all living things. 

Brian Doyle’s “Joyas Volardores” utilizes elements such as comparison, symbolism and pathos to ingrain many valuable themes in the reader regarding life. His work uses comparison to show the reader how living a balanced life is wise. He also uses symbolism to convey many paths of life one may take. Lastly, Doyle is able to incite great emotional response this through his scientific approach and by his use of vivid detail which shows the reader firsthand how delicate the heart is. “Joyas Volardores” or flying jewels shows the reader that life is a jewel that should be cherished because life flies by for all living things.        

                