Question and Analysis of Doris Day´s Autobiography

What audience did Dorothy day have in mind when writing her autobiography? Who was she trying to reach and what was her message?

Dorothy day was writing her autobiography to every human being in the world. She was trying to appeal to various people with catholic beliefs and moral standards to communicate her message and show the difficulties of her lonely life. She wanted to show how she found faith in God, which later in her life influenced her decisions and helped her overcome difficulties. Through catholic religion, Dorothy discovered the joy of helping others in need.

In early life, no one taught Dorothy about religion and she spent her time reading the Bible. She writes “I remember nothing that I read, just the sense of holiness in holding the book in my hands.” (Day, 20) At an early age, Dorothy already discovered the feeling of believing in something, but she did not know what she believed.

From personal understanding and examination of Dorothy Day’s life, I think that she wanted to show people how religion can change their lives and display a new spiritual sensation. At the university Dorothy Day rejected religion and “began to take God’s name in vain.” (Day, 42) Dorothy was unhappy and she expressed her feelings by pushing away religion. Until the birth of a child, Dorothy consciously doubted religion, however she constantly prayed and unconsciously believed in God. When Dorothy found out about her pregnancy, she started praying and going to mass every Sunday. She started praying because she became happy and she wanted to thank the God.

When the child was born, Dorothy decided to baptize her child and that meant that she had to be baptized as well. Dorothy did not have any catholic experience and Sister Aloysia kept ...

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...wspaper, which was designed to carry the religious doctrines to the masses. She expanded her work by creating a house of hospitality in New York and a farm for collective living and working. Dorothy wanted to influence Catholics.

She wanted to give ambition of hope to Catholics. Dorothy’s message to the society today articulates that we should volunteer to help people and share with them their sufferings. In my opinion, Dorothy Day wanted to tell the people about her life and how she felt lonely without anyone supporting her. She understood the feeling of being alone and tried to help other people in order to improve their lives.

I believe that Dorothy Day was against the war and she wanted Catholic Church to be less supportive of the war. She was a pacifist and she wanted each Catholic to be more concerned about helping the poor that being supportive to the war.