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Jack travels to the Ames’s house to drop off a magazine and play catch with Robby. He hopes that his attention to Ames’s son will help reconcile their relationship. He returns to their home the next day again to play with Robby. They invite him to stay for dinner, but he declines. Glory encourages Jack to accept the invitation the next time. He ventures to the Ames’s home the next day and stays for dinner. Glory and her father wait for Jack on the front porch. Jack proclaims that he will be attending church this Sunday.

Jack leaves for church. When he does not return, Glory goes to look for him. She finds him in the barn. He informs Glory that Ames’s sermon was on “the disgraceful abandonment of children by their fathers” (206). Jack was horrified and felt all “the eyes of Gilead upon me” (206). Glory begins to cry. Jack shares that he and Della dated and lived together for over nine years. Glory reflects on her own relationship and why she continued the engagement. Jack reveals that he was scared to return home and that he hoped to get help from his father or Reverend Ames.

Their father grapples with his disappointment over Ames’s mistreatment of his son. Jack concocts a plan for reconciliation between the two old friends. He explains to his father his desire to make amends with Ames and shares an article about religion he discovered in the attic. Glory drops this same article off at Ames’s home. Soon, Ames comes to visit their father. The two clergymen laugh about the article that criticizes institutionalized religion in the United States. Jack joins the men and asks them about the article’s claim that “the seriousness of American Christianity was called into question by our treatment of the Negro” (217). Ames agrees with Jack while his father attempts to deflect from the argument.

Jack asks Ames about the concept of predestination, particularly as it applies to perdition. He argues that grace and fate are similar concepts to predestination. His father rejects this claim. Glory wonders why her brother has evoked this argument when he is aware that her father and Ames have argued about this many times before. She leaves the room and overhears Jack introduce the topic of Ames’s sermon. He questions Ames about whether a father’s sins could result in the death of a child by the will of God. Glory recalls that Ames lost a child as well and attempts to stop the conversation. Their father exclaims that he is sinful and blames himself for Jack’s actions. Jack continues to question the men about inconsistencies in the Scripture regarding this topic and asks the clergymen if people can change if they are predestined to sin. The clergymen attempt to answer the question but offer no clear answer. Lila, Reverend Ames’s wife, ends the conversation by declaring that she believes that “everything can change” (227).

The next morning, Glory retrieves the mail and discovers that four of Jack’s letters to Della have been returned. Glory begins to despise Della for Jack’s sake. He finds the returned letters and asks Glory to burn them. Three more returned letters arrive. Glory burns them all. Jack begins to isolate himself again. Glory’s father grows troubled over Jack’s affliction. Glory shares the truth of Jack’s troubles. She and her father question whether there is a child involved. Glory recalls secretly taking Annie Wheeler, the young woman Jack impregnated, and the baby to an apple orchard. She remembers Annie calling her about the baby falling ill with an infection. There was no penicillin available at the time to cure the baby’s illness.

Later that evening, Jack returns home, and their father confronts him about his troubles with Della. Jack refuses to speak and hints at leaving Gilead. His father asks him to stay. The next morning, Glory’s father asks her to drive him to Ames’s home. Glory takes Lila and Robby to the movies to leave the two old friends alone. When they return to the Ames’s home, she discovers Jack with the two men. Glory escorts her father home with Lila while Jack stays back with Ames. The women prepare dinner at the Boughton home and wait for Jack. Ames informs them that he and Jack did not speak.

Jack does not return home that evening. The next day, Glory sets out to look for him. She finds a shirtless Jack in the barn. He is drunk. Glory sobs. Jack attempted to start the car without the key and has damaged it. He stuffed his shirt and socks into the tailpipe of the car to attempt suicide. Glory cleans Jack up.

Later that evening, Glory removes the evidence of Jack’s attempted suicide. Inspired by her mother, Glory decides to cook chicken and dumplings to comfort the family. Her brother Teddy, a doctor, arrives for an unplanned visit. She informs Jack of Teddy’s arrival and promises not to tell Teddy about what happened. Jack comes downstairs and greets Teddy, who informs Jack that he has been looking for him over the past 20 years and has traveled to St. Louis to find him six times. Jack admits that he spotted Teddy during one of these trips and avoided him. Teddy begins to cry. Their father wakes up and calls for Teddy. Teddy greets him, and their father breaks down in Teddy’s arms. He requests Teddy and Jack to stand together to have “a picture of you in my mind, together like that” (260). He refers to how similar Teddy and Jack looked when they were children. He requests Teddy and Jack to shake hands and promise to help one another. Teddy promises, but Jack questions what value he brings. He eventually promises.

They put their father to bed. Before Teddy leaves, Jack asks Teddy for advice regarding what to say to their father to comfort him. Jack does not want to lie about his relationship with religion but is willing to do so. They attempt to brainstorm what Jack can say he believes in to comfort his father. They conclude that it might be best for Jack to lie and say he believes in God. Teddy leaves his contact information and some money for Jack and leaves. Jack informs Glory of his plans to reach out to a mutual friend of his and Della’s to attempt to connect with Della. He will wait two weeks for the response before he leaves forever. He promises to stay in touch with Glory.

Jack writes the letter and asks Glory to mail it for him. He gifts her with a drawing of a map of Gilead and the woods where he foraged mushrooms. She tells him she will frame it. Their father joins them at the table. They talk openly. His father shares his disappointment that Jack did not attend his mother’s funeral and questions why Jack never loved his family. Jack attempts to leave the table, but Glory demands he stay. Uncharacteristically, his father speaks harshly to Jack and states that he is tired of staying patient and hopeful. He dismisses himself from the table. Jack describes to Glory the loneliness he felt during their childhood. She cries out of sadness for him, which touches Jack.

Jack asks about what happened to Annie Wheeler. He shares with Glory that he drank excessively for three years after impregnating Annie and that Teddy tried to keep him alive. When Teddy was caught taking an exam for Jack in college, Jack left college for St. Louis. He divulges that Della’s father gathered information about him and his unsavory past and threatened to expose him to Della if he did not leave her alone. He questions whether his letter will be effective. Glory suggests driving to Memphis together to see Della. He promises to think about the plan. They eat dinner together with their father, who grows more confused.

Glory sleeps in the next morning and then heads out to mail Jack’s letter. On her way into town, she ponders why anyone would want to live in Gilead. Upon returning home, Jack asks Glory to retrieve the bottles of alcohol he hid in the barn. He shows her the barn’s loft where he has created a makeshift shelter. Glory gathers the bottles. Jack attempts to wash the stains from his hands. He confesses to Glory that he was released from prison a few days prior to their mother’s funeral and that he used the money his father sent him to attend the funeral to buy a new suit and alcohol.

Later that evening, the family eats dinner. Their father grows more confused and does not recognize Jack, who attempts to comfort his father by lying about his belief in God. Their father speaks angrily to Jack. When Glory asks her father to be kinder to Jack, he explodes and compares watching Jack destroy his life to watching a child die. He blames Jack for the death of Annie Wheeler’s baby and reveals that Glory slapped Annie’s father for the horrible conditions in his house that resulted in the baby’s infection and subsequent death. He reveals that he will leave the house to Glory and wishes Jack farewell.

After their father goes to bed, Jack and Glory cannot sleep and play a game of checkers. Glory expresses her frustration with inheriting the house, as she never intended to settle in Gilead. As Glory attempts to sleep, she realizes that Jack’s work around the house have been attempts to restore it to its past version. The next morning, she finds Jack awake and making breakfast. He tells her that he has called Teddy about their father’s rapid deterioration. Teddy and the other siblings will arrive by Tuesday. Jack informs Glory that he will leave when Teddy arrives.

Glory confides in Reverend Ames about their father’s failing health and Jack’s plan to leave on Tuesday. She returns home. Jack informs her that he is going to attempt to speak to Ames one last time. She prays that her chat with Ames will not affect their conversation. She imagines her dream house, which is the opposite of the Boughton family home in Gilead. Jack returns from his conversation with Ames. The conversation went well, but Jack thinks he still must leave Gilead. He informs Glory that Ames’s heart is failing and that he also will die soon. He also tells Glory that he called Ames “Papa.”

Jack returns to Ames’s church on Sunday. The family eats dinner together. Their father remarks on why Jack has never called him anything but “sir.” On Monday, a letter arrives for Jack from Della. He reads it and announces to Glory that it does not change anything. Reverend Ames arrives later that day to share a final communion with their father. He attempts to give Jack some money, but Jack refuses to take it. Jack completes his final tasks around the house in preparation for leaving the next day. He suggests taking their father for a drive in the car. They drive around Gilead. The next morning, Jack says his goodbyes to them and leaves.

A couple of days after Jack’s departure, Glory works in the garden and notices a car with two black women and a young boy pull up. One of the women approaches Glory and asks for Jack. Glory realizes that the woman is Della, Jack’s wife, and that the boy is their son Robert. After promising to share anything she hears from Jack, Glory gives Robert a framed picture of the river from Jack’s room. Della tells Glory that they must hurry to their destination in Missouri before dark. Glory dreams of young Robert returning to Gilead one day when he is older.