Summary Of Brian Doyle's Essay 'Joyas Voladores'

People are broken creatures. We are invalid, corrupt, and imperfect. We start out on wobbly feet and frail bones, readily eager to take on the world, unafraid of anything and everything. Starting out in life, we are unsure, unafraid, and most of all, unaware. We are oblivious of the world at a young age and as we grow, we lose our innocence as well as ourselves. We are not born damaged, we are raised that way. In fact, Brian Doyle describes such in a very enchanting, if not somber, way in his essay “Joyas Voladores”. “When we are older we know this is the dream of a child, that all hearts are finally bruised and scarred, scored and torn, repaired by time and will…”(127) is a beautiful way Doyle describes the fragility and also the resourcefulness of one’s heart. We are beings that break and crumble after every personal loss, every broken heart, every inevitable death; and yet no matter how much it hurts or stings, we rebuild and
We open windows to each but we live alone in the house of the heart”(127). Though I believe Doyle wrote it in a way to touch everyone differently, I thought he was very spot on with how we are as humans. We can open our windows and let the sun shine through, we can let others look in to see what exactly we have inside, but no one will ever understand one’s heart better than oneself. Through insecurity and uncertainty, the best direction is to follow ones heart. In addition, Doyle’s use of creative imagery paints the very picture he wanted his readers to see in his “Joyas Voladores” essay. His words fall off the paper and into the heart of the reader, making them feel accepted, and more importantly, understood. He describes events that make you nostalgic for simpler times, when life could be solved with a game of rock, paper, scissors and every Sunday was spent in the back