Summary
Numbers
The voices finally introduce themselves as “the Seven,” sent to watch over and witness. They advise the addressee to look up and remember the star, though memory is not enough. They say that the cosmos is on our side, and to be unafraid of the dark, “for that is what you are."
Exodus
In his last moments, Samuel sees the chaos occurring on the plantation. With his dying breath, he calls out Isaiah’s name for the last time. Then James douses Samuel with oil and sets him on fire.
Puah collapses, mourning Samuel, and Sarah holds her up. Maggie, calm, allows herself to remember that Samuel was in fact her biological son, her last child. She separated herself from him because she didn’t see the point in loving something that would only be taken away, and she is feeling the pain and hatred now. Maggie runs toward Paul and stabs him in the back of his neck.
James is tackled by Adam before he can shoot Maggie, but Adam is shot in the ensuing struggle. The crowd begins to riot as slaves fight against their masters. James runs into the woods and turns around, shooting at the shadows. The darkness swallows him.
Be Auntie awakens abruptly when the toubab enter her shack, and she is shocked that none of her boys have warned her, not even Amos. Holding onto Solomon, Essie backs away from the rioting crowd. She finds herself by the riverbank, and stares down at Solomon, who looks like his father. She holds Solomon tightly, tighter until she hears a snap and his body falls limp. Then she throws him into the river.
Puah’s grief over Samuel threatens to overwhelm her, but Sarah rallies and tells her that they need to keep going. They sprint away together until they reach the river, where they part ways because Sarah cannot swim. Sarah watches until she sees Puah swimming to the other side, then heads south towards Choctaw territory.
Amos attempts to calm the crowd, as he believes that their survival on Empty is better than risking the unknown wilderness. He goes to stand by Paul’s body, as being found weeping around the master is the safest option. Maggie grabs the torch that James used to light Samuel on fire, and heads for the Big House. She makes her way to Massa Paul’s room and lights the bed on fire, then the cotton fields. In one of the upper floor windows, Maggie sees Ruth, who is unmoving. Maggie remembers the white dress, and finds a tear running down her face. She urges her people to rebel.
Isaiah
Isaiah reaches the river and dives in, knowing that Samuel will not be behind him. Isaiah nearly gives up, succumbing to the dark water and night, but he manages to make it to the other side. Looking back towards Empty, Isaiah sees flames burning and the warring crowd. He also sees the burning body hanging from the willow tree, and assumes that it is Samuel.
Sick with grief, Isaiah falls to his knees. He knows that he has to go before the toubab come after him, but he does not have the strength to fight. Then he hears a familiar voice—Samuel emerges from the river, smiling. Isaiah embraces him, sobbing, and they continue into the forest together, holding hands.
When they are far away, Isaiah and Samuel arrive at a clearing and pause to rest for a moment. Samuel begins to glow with light and heat, and Isaiah is burned across his chest when he tries to help Samuel. Samuel bursts into tiny sparks of light, and Isaiah collapses again. In the distance, somewhere north, Isaiah sees a tiny orange light. He runs towards it, and into the living darkness.
New Covenant
The seven prophets say, “You know who we are now.” Love is the last word that they said. A long poem with an almost prophetic quality ends the novel.
Analysis
The voices finally identify themselves to be “the Seven,” giving a name and identity to the nebulous ‘we’ that has been talking to the reader throughout the novel. 'Numbers' ends the novel by bringing it back full-circle to the beginning, where the prophets warned that “You do not yet know us." In 'New Covenant,' they acknowledge that "You know who we are now" through the act of reading the book, of witnessing and remembering Samuel and Isaiah's memory.
In this rapid, action-packed conclusion to The Prophets, the novel moves between the perspectives of several different characters, including Samuel, Maggie, Puah, Essie, Amos, and more. This creates a sense of quick movement and action, and the effect is of rapid snapshots of the different directions toward which each character is moving. Several loose threads are wrapped up in the chapter 'Exodus.'
Several of the minor characters such as Puah and Sarah make their own escape, and their paths are both full of potential. Sarah goes off into the unknown Choctaw territory, where she hopes to find friendly faces. James is swallowed by the darkness, implying that he has died or succumbed to the rioting slave masses. In a bittersweet moment for Essie, she smothers Solomon and throws him into the river.
The ending of the novel is intentionally left ambiguous, leaving the fate of several characters open to interpretation. Though Samuel is hanged and set on fire, he reappears at a crucial moment of Isaiah’s need, and helps him escape further into the woods. However, the closing image is of Isaiah being plunged into the darkness. Maggie kills Paul and sets fire to the Big House and the cotton fields, implying that the cycle of oppression on the Halifax plantation, at least, can no longer be continued.
