The average human heart beats about four thousand times per hour, one hundred fifteen thousand two hundred times per day, forty-two million forty-eight thousand times per year, and approximately three and a half billion times in a human life. Throughout “Joyas Voladoras” Brian Doyle focuses a lot on the heart, as in the organ we all have inside of us as well as the thing that makes us feel love, sadness, hate, and happiness. In his essay “Joyas Voladoras” Doyle makes use of allegory and repetition to convey his message that life is short and we should live each day with the same spontaneity as a hummingbird does. This strong and impactful message inspires readers to truly live their lives boldly, taking risks.
To highlight significant parts of his writing, Doyle strategically repeats key phrases. In the first paragraph, Doyle repeats the phrase, “A hummingbird’s heart … A hummingbird’s heart … A hummingbird’s heart.” By repeating the same three words, Doyle emphasizes one of the main focuses of his essay, making it stand out to the reader more each time he or she comes across it throughout the piece. In the fourth paragraph, Doyle uses the same phrase in several sentences, speaking about different types of creatures each time, ” Mammals and birds have hearts with four chambers. Reptiles and turtles have hearts with three chambers … ” In doing so, Doyle draws attention to the similarities we, living creatures, all share.
Moreover, this takes the focus off of the hummingbirds and begins transitioning it onto the human life. By using repetition in his writing, Doyle is able to make these key points stand out to readers, ensuring that they understand the message of the piece.Doyle uses allegory to convey his message that people should choose to live spontaneously and intrepidly by using the life of a hummingbird as something the reader can more easily grasp. In the third paragraph, Doyle writes about the brevity of life in general and the way two contrasting species live, “Every creature on earth has approximately two billion heartbeats to spend in a lifetime. You can spend them slowly, like a tortoise, … or you can spend them fast, like a hummingbird … ” Here we see, Doyle is saying how short life truly is (two billion heartbeats is roughly forty-seven years) and how people can either live without taking chances or live life to the fullest.
In his essay “Joyas Voladoras” Doyle makes use of allegory and repetition to convey his message that life is short and we should live each day with the same spontaneity and intrepidity as a hummingbird does. Doyle’s brilliant essay “Joyas Voladoras” inspires readers to not live with regrets and “what if’s” but to live as if it is their last day, just like a hummingbird.
