In “forgiving my father,” Lucille Clifton describes a daughter trying to forgive her father, even though he was not the best dad, after his death. In this poem, she constantly uses words that refer to money such as payday, Friday, bills, needy, debtor, and even forgive. They all have separate meanings, but they all contribute to one main idea. By looking at how Clifton repeats money-related words, we can see how important this was to the daughter and her family; this is important because money is one of the main reasons this daughter is having a hard time forgiving her father. 

Another word that is used that is related to money is debtor which helps describe the father’s situation. The father is the debtor because he owes everyone money. He was never able to fully pay everyone he needed to so he was always in debt and died a debtor. His irresponsibility with his money made him a debtor while he lived, and since he was never able to pay his debt, he died a debtor. When he died he was mainly in debt to his daughter who is the speaker of this poem. She was left with the weight of his debt, so the daughter is trying to help the reader understand the difficulty she is having forgiving him. 

 Needy is also used as a word associated with money. Clifton describes the father as being “the only son of a needy father, the father of a needy son” (Clifton, 13-14). At first the reader might not catch what that Clifton is trying to get across, but they should realize that the father’s father and the father’s son are receiving most of the money that he makes. This is one of the reasons why he has an issue with money and why the daughter is having a hard time forgiving her father. The mother and daughter are left with all of what he has left which is nothing. This is a prime example of how the father was financially irresponsible, and it had a huge impact on the daughter’s life.

In this poem, the daughter refers to payday being on Fridays, so it is understood that both of these words mean the same thing. Friday is a significant day in this family’s life even though the father does not make very much. The father gave them everything that he had which was nothing, so the daughter had to learn to be grateful for the bare minimum. On this day, he is supposed to give his wife money, but he has already given her all he has. This means he has nothing else to offer on payday, so he has left his family with a kind of debt. This debt has been built up for so long that now his daughter is having to handle it and forgive what he has done.

By repetitively using money related words, Lucille Clifton is able to portray another definition of the word forgive. This definition of forgive is to cancel (a debt), and this changes the way a reader interprets this poem when they see this new definition. The daughter is not necessarily trying to forget what her father has done; she is trying to cancel the debt that he has left behind with her. He never provided for his family financially because he did not make very much and was financially irresponsible, and the little that he did, he was giving to his father and son. Because he was financially irresponsible, he left all of his problems and debt with his daughter when he died, so he left her to forgive his debt for him. She is having to do his unfinished job because he could never resolve it. 

Although the repetitive use of money-related words is used to help elicit another definition of forgive, the debt that she is trying to cancel could be symbolic of what she is trying to forgive. She is not just trying to cancel the debt but forgive his carelessness and all of his flaws. Her father has passed away, so the daughter is trying to force herself to overcome all of his problems, money and not money related. He did not provide emotionally or financially, and she is having a hard time living with that now that he is gone. The daughter may not necessarily want to forgive her father, but the weight of all of his mistakes and debt are too much for her to handle. Lucille Clifton uses this repetition to help piece together all of the father’s problems which helps elicit the symbolism of forgiveness. 

Lucille Clifton used all of these words associated with money to better help the reader understand the difficulty that she had while growing up and to show why she is having such a hard time forgiving her father. By repeatedly using words associated with money, she is able to bring out this new definition of forgive, so the reader is able to understand that she is not necessarily trying to forget what her father has done. She is trying to cancel the debt that he has left her with. The father never made very much money, so he was never able to provide financially. Their family waited for every Friday because it was payday, but it was never enough. He was not necessarily a bad father like the title tries to make it seem. Forgiving does not mean to forget in this poem. By repeating words that have to deal with money, the reader is able to understand the difficulty that the daughter is having canceling her father’s debt. She could be trying to get over the fact that he has left her with all of his problems, but with the repetition of money we are able to see she is having to take care of his financial irresponsibility after his death. Clifton was able to use a different meaning of the word forgive by repeating money-related words to show the reader the meaning she was trying to get across. 
