Love is…
The concept of love is still a topic of discussion that has yet to be defined or fully understood. Each person has their own definition of love, which can be credited to emotions from the heart. Emotions, specifically love, and their association with the heart has always been such a complex idea for me to grasp. Can love truly be felt in the heart? Why is the feeling of love even associated with the heart?
After reading Joyas Voladoras by Brian Doyle, some of my burning questions had finally been answered. Joyas Voladoras is Doyle’s written reflection about how the human heart and human emotions are a rollercoaster of loneliness and fragility. In this essay, Doyle uses numerous amounts of rhetorical devices to connect hummingbirds and blue whales to the functionality of human hearts. For example, she compares the hearts of hummingbirds and blue whales in order to come to the conclusion that even though they may be different from each other, they both serve the same purpose — much like human hearts. He also uses repetition and imagery when describing the animals in order to get this point across.
Using the duality of animal hearts and human hearts allows him to show the readers the difference between the two — humans are able to feel emotions that animals are not capable of feeling or understanding. The constant symbolism shown throughout the essay is used by Doyle to demonstrate how every person can have their own definition and experiences of love. The hummingbird and the blue whale both symbolize their own type of love, which further pushes his message of how there are many different types of emotions and feelings that come with each definition of love.
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As mentioned in the introduction, love can be defined and explored in many different ways. Doyle explains his personal definition of love in his last passage of Joyas Voladoras by using symbolism. He uses “the heart” to represent the struggle that humans face when it comes to dealing with their own emotions, specifically when they are lovelorn or facing heartbreak. By using “the heart” as symbolism, Doyle states his beliefs on how the human heart can be closed off as easily as it can be opened up.
“We open windows to each but we live alone in the house of the heart.”
“You can brick up your heart as stout and tight and hard and cold and impregnable as you possibly can and down it comes in an instant”
What I notice with these two quotes taken from Joyas Voladoras is how Doyle quickly contradicts himself. As he transitions to talking about hearts, he tells the readers how the heart can be as open as can be, but it will always be alone in the end. What I see in the next few sentences is how Doyle contradicts himself by trying to convince the audience that no matter how much one can close their heart, it will always be fragile and its defense can be easily broken down by a simple glance of a woman. This contradiction represents the risks of trying to find love, since falling in love too easily can lead to heartbreak and despair.
Overall, there are many conclusions that can be taken from Joyas Voladoras. By describing the physical functionality and capacity of animal and human hearts, Doyle is able to connect his previous paragraphs to the topic of human emotion. With ease and brilliance, he manages to transition from his essay about hummingbirds and blue whales to the philosophy of human emotion, specifically love. Joyas Voladoras is a beautifully written essay where Brian Doyle was able to open his audience’s minds to many new definitions and perspectives of love. The complexity of love is still a concept that will never have one true definition and Doyle further demonstrates this in Joyas Voladoras by using symbolism.
