We are presented with an extract from Brian Doyles essay Joyas Voladoras, which concentrates on the different aspects of the heart, be it animal or human. Throughout the passage the author focuses on illustrating the importance of the role

  Next we see how the author choses to personify the heart as a house that drives this colossal creature through the oceans, stressing the importance of the role of the heart. Once again the factitious image is followed by an accurate fact, in this case about the animal’s size in order to remain convincing throughout the entire passage. The use of constant numbers, proportions and comparisons lets the reader establish a clear awareness of the whale’s exact size as it allows the reader to compare and comprehend in a more clear and familiar manner. Comparisons such as “ it is waaaaay bigger than your car”, allows the reader to see the whale in proportion to something well known. When we are told that the whale “ drinks a hundred gallons of milk” and “gains two hundred pounds a day” is it easy to imagine the immensity of this creature through this accurate reference to quantitative measurements.

 We see that the author choses to illustrate the mystery of the blue whale through a contrast between a serious illustration of the whale’s path to  “unimaginable puberty” after which they appear to disappear and the humorous speculation about the little amount known of the whale’s “ spirituality, wars, stories, despairs, and arts of the blue whale”.  This idea of the whale being such a mysterious beast proves to be particularly paradoxical as it is placed right after a vivid description of the whale’s colossal size.

 The middle paragraph can be considered a clever structural characteristic which serves as a transition from the accurate depiction of the physical features of the whale’s heart and shifting to a more psychological and emotional aspect of the heart by insinuating that all living beings are united by their hearts, “we all churn inside”.  

  The final paragraph primarily serves to create a metaphor for the heart which takes on a personal and expressive point of view to show the true side to human affairs.  The idea of us living “alone in the house of the heart”, shows how detached humans truly are from one another, merely opening “windows” to each other when truly being petrified of exposing ourselves, scared of a “harrowed heart”. This metaphor shows how shallow our relations with other people actually are; as we communicate from within this “house of a heart” and refuse to fully open up. We live in this house which appears to contain our entire life, growing bigger each day, moment and hour. The author illustrates this “house of a heart” as something that we strive to keep strong but constantly gets damaged by heartbreaks and despairs that life inevitably leads us to, be it melancholic memories from the past or tragic incidents from the present. The author choses to finish the passage by tackling the fragility of the heart, portraying it as our personal little house that we struggle to re-enforce but “down it comes in an instant”. This idea of having a weak and delicate heart proves to be particularly controversial to the very start of the passage where we are provided with a thorough account of the whale’s immense and powerful heart which drives such an enormous creature through its life.

  In conclusion this passage provides the reader with two distinctive approaches to the heart, physical and emotional. The authors persistent jump from fact to speculation allows the reader to establish a stronger connection with the text which contributes to create the paradoxical image of the heart, appearing strong but merely being a fragile shelter for one’s true emotions. The way that the author has been able to keep the image of the “house of a heart” serves to establish a connection between the two contrasting arguments exposed in the first and third paragraph of the text.