What does the brevity of the second last paragraph add to the general effect of the essay?

Varying the length of paragraphs, just like varying sentence length or structure, provides a way to achieve effect. A short paragraph can isolate a powerful idea for emphasis or drama, it might communicate tone, and it might also act as a means of transition. The third last paragraph ends with very dramatic and powerful detail of the animal’s death. The brevity of the second last paragraph enables the power of an understatement. On the one hand, it is cursory, to the point. The action is done, the animal dead, so the narrator tersely tells us he walked away. But the story doesn’t end there, for more gory details follow:  the animal is stripped to the bones.  He communicates a tone that shows his disgust with himself and what he did; he suggests he wants to be rid of the topic—he doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. But very dramatically he describes the result of his action, which is even more violent than the actual deed. The brevity enables all of this to stand out in relief to what precedes it. The paragraph also provides transition to the conclusion, which is the aftermath, where again the narrator expresses contempt for himself, especially in the last sentence.