And Catherine's pains during labor and her death, all show how misfortune, distress, and death particularly plague and affect these protagonists. They are fated to die and suffer because they cannot feel at home in military, in religion, or even in any particular state. Catherine cannot get over the death of her fiancee, just as Henry cannot get over the inability of Catherine to purely and totally give herself over to him.

Both Henry and Catherine are outsiders because they are always 'once removed' from society. Catherine is too much in love with the dead to be truly wed to Henry and truly part of his life. Henry cannot, despite his affection for some of his comrades, feel truly in touch with the army, because he always views his status as a national and as a soldier with a certain degree of distance and irony.

This is also true of...
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