Milkman returns to Shalimar, finds Sweet, and convinces her to go swimming with him in a nearby river, where he excitedly tells her what he has discovered about his ancestors. Then he boards a bus and heads back to Michigan. On the way, he thinks about his experiences and his newfound knowledge and speculates on the meaning of names and on Guitar’s role in his life.
When Milkman arrives back home, he stops at Pilate’s house. But when he starts to tell her about his discoveries, instead of welcoming his news, Pilate hits him over the head with a bottle and throws him into her cellar. When he regains consciousness, Milkman senses that Hagar is dead and realizes that Pilate’s behavior against him was prompted by grief. He calls out to her and tells her that the bones she has been carrying around are those of her father. Finally he convinces her to go back to Shalimar with him to bury the bones. Pilate gives him a box filled with Hagar’s hair, which he takes home with him.
Milkman and Pilate return to Shalimar. After a reunion with the people in the community, Pilate and Milkman go to Solomon’s Leap to bury the bones. Pilate stoops down and drops her earring containing her name into the grave along with the bones. When she stands up, she is shot in the back of her head by a rifle fired by Guitar, and she dies in Milkman’s arms as he sings Solomon’s song to her. As he holds her, two birds circle around them, and one dives into the grave, then flies off with Pilate’s earring.
Knowing Guitar will shoot him as soon as he stands up, Milkman intentionally stands and calls out to his friend, then leaps into the air toward Guitar, who is standing on another flat-headed rock.
