The end

There is such a fascination in older movies and books with "the end" and I cannot quite understand why. I do understand what the words mean and that they symbolize the end of the story or movie, but wouldn't the closing cover of a book do the same? Or even the ending credits? Why must the writers or whoever else put "the end" at the end of it? Does it cease the existence of the characters? Is it the author's way of saying they're done with the characters, the story, and anything else related? What happens for the characters after the end? It's never the end for them. Even when a character dies it's not the end. What about the other characters? Didn't the death affect anybody? It's never truly the end in a story. Maybe it's just that people expect it.