Buckeye Ending Explained: Secrets, Guilt, and the Cost of Silence

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

What Happens at the End of Buckeye? A Literal Account

The novel’s climax occurs in Chapter Twenty-Three, set in late 1969. Tom Salt, spared from the Vietnam draft by a high lottery number, is confronted by his father, Felix, who reveals a secret kept for nearly two decades: Cal Jenkins is Tom’s biological father, and Tom’s best friend Skip was his half-brother. The news devastates Tom, shattering his sense of identity. He drives to Columbus to find his biological mother, Margaret, but after watching her at work from a distance, he decides not to approach. He returns to Toledo consumed by anger and gradually cuts off contact with Felix and the Jenkins family, a rift deepened by the Kent State shootings.

Chapter Twenty-Four moves to April 1975. Felix, now estranged from Tom, is diagnosed with terminal lung disease. With Cal’s help, Tom is brought back to Bonhomie, and a slow reconciliation begins. Felix dies in August 1976, surrounded by Tom, his companion Bishop, and the Jenkinses. After the funeral, Margaret arrives in response to Tom’s letter. She apologizes and reveals she was abandoned as a baby. Tom shares a brief embrace with her before returning to Felix’s wake.

The final chapter (Twenty-Five) takes place on Becky’s sixtieth birthday. She and Cal revisit Huron, the site of their postponed honeymoon. They reflect on their parents, Skip’s death, and their decision not to have more children. Becky senses Skip’s spirit in the laundry room, delivering a message of love. Cal gives her the sealed letter she wrote to herself at age eight, which is simply an expression of hope, not a prediction. They ride the Ferris wheel at Cedar Point, embracing the present.

The Climax: The Revelation of Tom’s Parentage

The story’s central bombshell is dropped when Felix confesses that Cal Jenkins fathered Tom during a brief encounter with Margaret. This revelation recontextualizes every interaction between Tom and Skip — their childhood friendship, Skip’s protective attitude, and the bond they shared. Tom’s reaction is immediate rage and betrayal; he feels that everyone he trusted (Felix, Cal, Becky) has lied to him for his entire life. The secret was kept to protect both families — Cal and Becky’s marriage, and Felix’s fragile peace after the war. Tom’s journey to Columbus but failure to confront Margaret underscores his inability to process the truth. He remains stuck in anger until Felix’s terminal illness forces a reunion.

Major Character Outcomes

Each main character reaches a distinct endpoint:

Cal Jenkins: Lives with the weight of his mistakes — both his role in the cover-up and his earlier shame about not serving in WWII. He realizes his life’s work has been “correcting mistakes,” as he tells Becky on their Ferris wheel ride. He gives her the childhood letter and finds peace in their enduring love.
Becky Hanover Jenkins: Her mediumship, which was often doubted by her family, proves vital. She facilitated Felix’s grief recovery by contacting the spirit of his shipmate Augie. At the end, she hears Skip’s spirit and accepts the letter, affirming her gift without needing validation from others.
Felix Salt: Dies surrounded by loved ones, having confessed the secret and reconciled with Tom. His arc moves from suppressed war trauma and guilt (over the Teague sinking) to acceptance, thanks to Becky’s sessions and his relationship with Bishop.
Tom Salt: Begins the ending devastated and estranged, but gradually opens to reconciliation with Felix before his death. Meeting Margaret offers partial closure: she apologizes and shares her own abandonment story, but their relationship remains an open question.
Margaret Salt: Appears only briefly but offers an apology and vulnerability, explaining that she left Bonhomie after giving birth because she had no support. Her revelation that she was herself abandoned as a baby adds symmetry to the novel’s themes of family loss.
Skip Jenkins: Already deceased by the final chapters (died in Vietnam), his spirit appears to Becky, offering love and forgiveness. His death haunts the second half of the book but is ultimately transformed into a message of endurance.
Everett Jenkins: Cal’s father dies of natural causes sometime before the final chapter. His arc from bitter hoarder to a man who found community (the Zane Grey book club) and grew close to his grandson Skip is left bittersweet.
Bishop: Felix’s fellow veteran and discreet partner, he appears at Felix’s deathbed, representing the possibility of intimacy and support beyond the secrets of the war.

Resolved and Unresolved Threads

Resolved:

Felix’s survivor guilt and inability to name his lost shipmate Augie are resolved through his sessions with Becky. He eventually reads a confession, and Becky relays Augie’s message: “he loves Felix, everything is okay, and Felix must keep swimming.”
The secret of Tom’s parentage is revealed, and Tom begins the slow process of forgiving Felix before his death.
Becky’s childhood letter is returned to her, symbolizing self-forgiveness and the acceptance that hope, not prediction, shapes life.

Unresolved:

Tom’s relationship with Margaret remains ambiguous. They embrace once, but Tom returns to Felix’s wake; no future visits or correspondence are shown. The novel leaves open whether he will rebuild a relationship with her.
The fate of the buckeye tree itself is not addressed after Skip’s death, though the title and tree’s symbolic weight (as a marker of place and memory) linger.
Cal’s physical disability (shortened leg) is referenced but not thematically resolved — it shapes his early life but fades in importance as the novel focuses on his moral struggles.

Theme Resolution

Secrecy and Family Lies: The climax shows how decades of silence poisoned relationships. The resolution comes through the painful truth being spoken, even at the cost of immediate anger. The novel suggests that while secrets may protect in the short term, they ultimately wound.
War Trauma and Survivor Guilt: Felix’s arc charts the most complete resolution. His inability to talk about the Teague sinking gives way to acceptance through mediumship. The book argues that trauma must be engaged with, not buried.
Mediumship and Grief: Becky’s gift is validated not through proof but through its effects — it helps Felix (and others) move forward. The ending affirms that connection with the dead is possible in the form of love, not literal communication.
Marital Estrangement and Hidden Identities: Cal and Becky’s marriage survived early crises (the LaGrange incident) and later grief. By the final chapter, they have built a life of quiet endurance.
Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Tom’s anger is not erased, but he chooses to be present at Felix’s deathbed. The novel implies that forgiveness is a process, not a single act.

The Epilogue: Chapter Twenty-Five as a Coda

Chapter Twenty-Five functions as an epilogue, set years after Felix’s death. It provides closure for Cal and Becky, showing them still together, still grieving Skip, and still finding joy in small moments. The Ferris wheel scene mirrors an earlier date (from their honeymoon) and symbolizes life’s circularity — they have come full circle. Becky hears Skip’s spirit one final time, delivering a message of forgiveness and love. The letter from her childhood is less a prophecy than a reminder that hope itself is valuable.

Reasonable Interpretations of the Ending

The buckeye tree as a symbol of rootedness and loss: The tree that grows in the Jenkins yard is mentioned throughout, but its destruction or survival is never confirmed. It can be read as representing family bonds that persist despite storm.
Tom’s failure to fully reconcile with Margaret: Some readers may see this as a realistic portrayal of complex family dynamics — not all wounds heal neatly. Others might argue that Tom’s return to the wake signals a prioritization of the family who raised him.
Becky’s gift as ambiguous: The novel never confirms whether her mediumship is supernatural or a form of intuitive empathy. The ending leaves this open, focusing on the comfort it brings rather than its origin.
The novel’s title: “Buckeye” refers to Tom’s childhood nickname, given by Skip. The ending thus centers on Tom’s identity — is he a Buckeye? A Salt? A Jenkins? The question is left for the reader.

Six Reader Questions Answered

1. Why did Felix wait so long to tell Tom the truth? Felix feared losing Tom’s love and felt shame about the circumstances of Tom’s conception. The secret was also protected by Cal and Becky, who wanted to preserve their marriage and Tom’s childhood. Felix only reveals it when Tom’s draft near-miss forces him to confront his own mortality and the need for honesty.

2. Does Tom ever fully forgive Felix? The novel shows Tom attending Felix’s deathbed and being present at his wake, implying a gradual and incomplete forgiveness. Felix dies knowing Tom has returned to him, which is enough. The text does not suggest complete emotional resolution for Tom, but rather the beginning of reconciliation.

3. What happens to Margaret after the funeral? Margaret appears only during the wake scene. She apologizes, shares her abandonment story, and embraces Tom. The novel does not follow her further. It remains ambiguous whether Tom will maintain contact with her.

4. Is Becky really psychic, or is it psychological? The novel deliberately leaves this unanswered. Becky herself admits she cannot predict the future and that her gift is unreliable. Yet her sessions produce accurate, specific details (e.g., the Teague sinking, the name Rigdon). The story treats the question as secondary to the comfort her work provides.

5. Why did Cal and Becky decide not to have more children after Skip? Becky’s difficult pregnancy and the risk of another are cited early. Later, the decision is framed as a choice to focus their love on Skip and on each other. Skip’s death in Vietnam makes this choice tragically resonant, as they never had another child.

6. What is the significance of the childhood letter on Becky’s 60th birthday? Cal gives Becky the sealed letter she wrote at age eight. She had called it a “vision” of her future self, but it is only an expression of hope — sweet, childish desires like “straight teeth” and “wonderful children.” The moment underscores the theme that hope, not certainty, sustains love.

For more on the novel’s key characters and themes, explore our character profiles for Cal Jenkins, Becky Hanover Jenkins, Tom “Buckeye” Salt, and Felix Salt. You can also read about the book’s main themes, including war trauma, mediumship and grief, and forgiveness.