All Quiet on the Western Front ending explained

What happens

In the last days of the war, Paul sees a butterfly beyond the trench and reaches for it. A sniper shoots him. His death is small and sudden, and it reveals that his survival never meant anything to the war.

The last image

Paul's dead classmates march in ghostly ranks, turning to look back at the audience.

What it says

The ending turns one man's death into a generation's. Beauty is answered with violence, and the dead schoolmates look straight at you, so the cost of the teacher's speech about glory cannot be missed.