Euphemism In Joyas Voladoras

Metaphorical Resemblance to Actuality
It’s extremely easy to break a heart, as it is also very easy to die. Not only are the fragility of the two similar, but the metaphorical and physical descriptions of the heart are greatly similar in many other ways. In Doyle’s short story, “Joyas Voladoras,” from Ways of Reading, he uses the physical description of the heart to show how fragile and short life is, but also shows the fragility of relationships and having complete trust of another person. As a human, one feigns strength as a guise over our fragile animal nature. Additionally, people try to distance themselves from death and the thought of it, and fear the realization that life is just as long as the ticking timer of the heart. After all, the heart is a major factor in life, and whether delving into
While many turn to religion for explanations to help, people tend to push death as far from them as they can. Even in “Joyas Voldoras,” Doyle retains the idea and thought of death to a minimum, employing euphemisms to discuss death. This fear leads to disillusion, and people thinking that death will not effect them until it becomes too close to ignore, whether with the death of a close family member, or the rapidly failing health of their own self. With Doyle’s seemingly emotionless language and implied lack of empathy towards death, the reader will notice that even with his close experience with death with his son, he still tries to keep death away from him and the reader explicitly. Even as Doyle’s son was born with heart problems, and Doyle’s Catholic faith gives him a sure idea of what happens after death, Doyle still fears it to a point that he is in the habit of not discussing it blatantly. As he states, “So much is held in a heart in a lifetime. So much is held in a heart in a day” (148). The accomplishments of humans are therefore easily brought down by the nearly mortal