
Most people do not realize the affect that a family’s debt has on the children. In the poem, Forgiving My Father by Lucille Clifton, a young girl expresses her concern and feelings about her family being in debt. She resents her father for never paying the money he owes because he is spending it elsewhere. The girl wishes that her father would work harder to pay it forward, but instead she accepts the fact that her father will never be able to get out of the debt he shamelessly put himself him. This poem is mostly negative because of the resentment and disappointment the girl has in her father, but it also has some positive feelings because she has come to terms with her father’s actions and she knows that nothing will change. 

In many situations, people will find excuses and explanations in order to protect the people they love. In this poem, the little girl continues to try and excuse her father’s actions because she truly does love him. One prime example of this is when she says, “I wish you were rich so I could take it all and give the lady what she was due but you were the only son of a needy father,” (lines 10-12). Even though she knows her father will never pay up, she still tried to blame it on the fact that her grandfather was needy and that he was the one that made her father this way. She wanted to find a scapegoat and when she did, she would use it as an excuse for her father’s wrong actions. Everyone wants to keep their loved ones safe from the perilous real world. When she shows that she wants to protect her father from these actions it shows the slightly positive side of their relationship, even though it is mostly negative because of her resentment towards him. 

 It is hard to expect a lot from people who have nothing to offer. The little girl in Forgiving My Father expects for her father to pay his dues because it is one of the automatic responsibilities of a parent. When her father is not able to pay his dues she feels ashamed and disappointed. Therefore, she says, “you gave her all you had which was nothing, you have already given her all you had,” (lines 14-16). These lines show that the girl is disappointed in her father and wants him to feel guilty for not working hard enough to be able to pay off his debt, but she also says that he had already given them all that he had. Sometimes people give all that they have and they still come up short and that can be disappointing to others because they expect more from them. This shows that their relationship is both negative and positive because she is still disappointed in her father and even though she is glad he gave all he had, she still wants him to work harder to pay all that he owes. 

In the end, the daughter begins to accept the fact that her father will never be able to pay off his debt. She asks herself “Why am I here collecting? You lie side by side in the debtors’ boxes and no accounting will open them up,” (lines 21-23). The daughter has accepted her father’s actions which is a positive aspect of their relationship, but she has not forgiven them. She knows her father will never be able to pay off his debt because he is so deep in it, but she realizes that since this is happening every time, it is not worth stressing over. In order to restore their relationship, she must accept what he has done and hope that he will work harder in the future. When the daughter accepts her father’s actions and has hope it shows the positive parts of their relationship along with the negative parts, like the fact that she will not forgive him or that he will not be able to fully pay off his debt. 

Relationships between family usually involve negative and positive aspects. In this case, the daughter and father have a mostly negative relationship. However, there are some positive aspects which make the reader believe that they do not fully resent each other. Most of the negative feelings are coming from the daughter because she feels that her father is hopeless and will never pay off his debt. Forgiving My Father shows that not all relationships are fully negative or fully positive, but that they all have mixed feelings. In the end, everyone deserves to have somewhat of a second chance in order to redeem themselves of the wrong doings they have committed. 
