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 craftily utilizes metaphor, imagery, and diction to convey philosophical themes in “Joyas Volardores”.   

Doyle forges many comparisons through the use of metaphors which serve the purpose of instilling the theme of living wisely and finding balance in one’s life. In “Joyas Volardores” the heart is often metaphorically referenced as an engine. Doyle informs the reader about the fast pace life of the hummingbird, also called Joyas Volardores, and the consequences of their fast lifestyle. This is important because he uses comparison of two different things to tell readers that if you work yourself too hard like the Hummingbird, then you will as Doyle puts it, “fry the machine” (Doyle 95). The two different lifestyles 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? The comparative metaphors Doyle employs show us why one should find balance between ambition and living life because “It’s expensive to fly” (Doyle 95). 

Another element which Doyle uses to help relay deeper messages in “Joyas Volardores” is imagery. 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. He paints a vivid picture of these precious animals that are full of energy and all over the place. His vivid description exhibits many similarities between this animal and children. Doyle uses this imagery which leads readers to think about a young and wild time in their life. But just like the hummingbird, ones youth often feels short lived. Time flies as you reflect back on how much you’ve changed over the years since adolescence. The essay then shifts pace to describe a much larger animal called the blue whale. He goes to great lengths to describe all aspects of Blue whales and their lives. He uses imagery to a picture of two majestic creatures “travel[ing] in pairs” and having a “house of a heart” (Doyle 95-96). His imagery influences the reader to make connections between blue whales and adulthood. He does so by describing blue whales living in pairs and having hearts big enough for a child to walk around in (Doyle 95). Adults, like blue whales, search for a partner to spend their life’s journey with. Also, human parents, like blue whales, have the biggest hearts, which are large enough to house a child. Doyle also describes offspring which nurse from the mother and grow up very fast. This once again connects back to his themes of time passing by quickly as children grow up in the blink of an eye. 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 fast and chooses their own path, just as with the blue whale. Doyle does a superb job at using imagery to relate similarities between the lives of animals and man, which ultimately connect the reader with the animals and force them to ponder life. The imagery throughout the piece connects this central theme of choosing ones path in life. 

Lastly, Brian Doyle carefully selects the diction in order to stir readers’ emotions while emphasizing 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 a 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 word selection. The author’s scientific word choice and informative tone creates a sense of trust between the reader and the author. Doyle presents the reader with scientific information early on in order to gain readers trust as they can’t really see the author’s motive yet. Initially, the reader is shocked with information and soon feels 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 emotional response from reader when he says “Consider for a moment those hummingbirds who did not open their eyes again today, this very day” (Doyle 95). Doyle begins to shift his informative intentions to a philosophical agenda which really drives home the theme of heartbreak when he ends the paragraph with “a brilliant music stilled” (Doyle 95). The last paragraph changes in contrast to the rest of the writing, as the last paragraph concludes the essay in a depressing tone. The essay goes from upbeat to melancholy when he changes to a more pathological approach to describing 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 love and life for all living things. 

Brian Doyle’s “Joyas Volardores” utilizes literary elements such as metaphors, imagery and diction to project many valuable themes in the reader regarding how one should go through life. His work connects the lives of animals to humans so readers can relate to the text in order to persuade readers to live a balanced life. Doyle is able to incite great emotional response in the text through his metaphors displaying underlying themes and gain the readers trust through a flowery, yet scientific writing approach which shows the reader how delicate the heart is. “Joyas Volardores” or flying jewels teach the reader that life is a jewel that should be cherished because life flies by for all living things.        

     