In a moment of temporary insanity, Paul speaks to the corpse. He explains that the man was merely an abstraction. But now Paul realizes, "We always see it too late." He asks the man's forgiveness because he knows now that the enemy is a flesh-and-blood man like himself. Checking the man's tunic for his name and address, Paul hesitates because a name will make the man real and will stay with Paul for the rest of his life. He finds a picture of a woman and a little girl in the man's tunic. They are obviously not rich, and Paul thinks of writing to the woman or sending her money. Finally, he resolves to live for the sake of this man, Gérald Duval, printer, and he promises that if he does come out of this, he will make sure war never happens again.
Twilight comes and, along with it, a return to temporary reason. Paul is no longer thinking about the dead man. He is recognizing instead that if he tries to return to his own company, they may shoot him accidentally. By the light of a rocket, Paul sees helmets from his own company and realizes Kat and Albert are there with a stretcher, looking for him.
The next day, Paul tells Kat and Albert about the dead printer; they assure him that he could have done nothing else. Listening to his friends, Paul calms himself and tries to rationalize the whole experience. He is finally able to forgive himself and concludes pragmatically, "After all, war is war."
