The name calling in Lucille Clifton’s “forgiving my father” shows the feelings the speaker has towards her deceased father. This element of the text helps contribute to the idea that the daughter is not forgiving her father but more so realizing all the reasons that she shouldn’t.  The speaker or daughter shows her anger towards her father by using a series of nicknames throughout the poem.  These names point to the issues of financial stability associated with the father as well as how he treated his daughter.  The speaker makes it clear that she is aware of all of her father mistakes and has been wounded by them.  The word “old” is repeated before each name used to describe the father for two reasons.  First it is used to further describe the father as dead and nonexistent, also it describes the daughter’s feelings about her father’s mistakes.  The daughter had been putting up with her worthless father for so long that his actions had become “old” or overly familiar to her.  

In the first stanza the speaker refers to her father as “old man.”(Clifton 5)  This extremely informal reference makes the daring tone of the speaker apparent.  The nickname “old man” can simply refer to a father figure however when looking at the casual context it is obvious that the speaker views her father as unfit for the paternal roll.  “But today is payday, payday” is used before “old man” to make the lack of respect possessed by the daughter clear. (5) The daughter having to remind her father of the day shows how senseless and insignificant he is through her eyes.  

In the second stanza the daughter calls her dad “old lecher.” (Clifton 9)  A lecher can be defined as a womanizer or a man obsessed with sex.  The speaker using this word to describe her father can only mean that he sexually abused her as a child.  The way the father treated his daughter is apparent by this reference.  The idea that her father has violated her is not prevalent to the overall idea that the man was unfit financially.  However this statement furthers the idea that the father was terrible to his family and to express forgiveness to him after all that he has done would be unheard of.  

The next nickname the speaker uses to describe her father is “old liar.” (Clifton 10)  This reference goes on to support the idea that the father did more than just fail to support his family financially.  This term can be seen as a confrontation from daughter to father.  It is obvious the daughter knew the father was dishonest on top of all the other issues presented and this reference is used to place more guilt on the dead father.  

Next the speaker refers to her father as “old pauper.” (Clifton 20)  A pauper can be defined as someone who is poor and unable to offer financial support.  The term “pauper” is used because the biggest flaw of the father in the eyes of the speaker was his lack of financial support.  This is reflected throughout the entire poem with the constant terms related to money.  For example “you are the pocket that was going to open and come up empty any Friday” was another direct jab at the fathers failure to provide on payday. (17-18)   

The daughter uses “old prisoner” next in reference to her father. (Clifton 20) Calling her father this goes to add to the list of problems he had.  Using this term hints at the fact that her father had a criminal record in addition to everything else.  This again shows the idea that the daughter is very upset with her father for all the things he has brought upon her and her mother.  The word old in front of prisoner makes it seems as if the father was in jail for an extended period of time.  This could further support the idea that he failed to provide for the family because there is no way he could be bringing home money on payday if he was in prison.  

“Old dead man” is the last nickname used by the daughter directed at her father. (Clifton 20)  This reference offers a sense a repetition with the first nickname used, “old man”, and ties the whole poem together. (5) The difference is that the word dead is inserted in this nickname making it apparent that although the father has passed away his actions were terrible and for that the daughter will always be upset.  The word dead can also be looked at as a reference to the relationship between the father and daughter.  The daughter has dealt with the faults of her father for so long that now he is gone she is done with him and no longer feels a need to keep in touch with him spiritually.  This ending of the father daughter relationship is the overall purpose of the poem.  The poem can be read as almost a morbid farewell.  The daughter lays out the extensive list of all the things the father did to wrong the family and does it in this manner so that it is off her conscience.  The errors of her father were her last memory of him and including them all in this poem goes to help the daughter forget about her terrible father and all the way he mistreated her and her mother.  

Each nickname used by the speaker in reference to her father stands for a different way he neglected his family.  This title of the poem is ironic because it sounds like the poem will be entirely about a daughter forgiving her father for his mistakes when in fact it is the opposite.  This poem takes into account each horrible thing the father did and uses it to support the argument that the speaker should not forgive her father.  The daughter is reflecting on how awful her father treated her and by doing this; the idea of forgiveness becomes ridiculous to her.  The daughter realizes that her father deserves nothing close to forgiveness and she refuses to give it to him despite him being dead.  
