This chapter begins with a reference to the boxing match mentioned in Chapter VIII. As in books like A Farewell to Arms, Hemingway here is constructing a kind of continuum that connects heterosexual love with war, via "blood sports" like boxing, hunting and fishing, and (later in this novel) bullfighting. The writer believed that loving a woman could prove just as dangerous as fighting in a war; conversely, battlefield combat can teach a man lessons useful in his love affairs, or at least harden him for the pain that Hemingway believed was unavoidable in matters of the heart. Note that both ends of the spectrum meet, here, in Jake's war wound, which prevents him from engaging in sexual intercourse. Cohn is a boxing champion and, therefore, he is somewhat prepared to engage in the battle of the sexes (the same can be said of the bullfighter Romero, who appears later in the book) — but he is not as well-prepared as the veterans Mike, Brett, and, of course, Jake. The price these characters pay for their wisdom is unending pain that they can only hope to dull with alcohol.
The theme of paying for things continues here, with Bill's response to the waiter on the train who refuses to offer special service in exchange for a ten-franc bribe: "I suppose if I'd given you five francs you would have advised us to jump off the train." Bill persists in believing in what he called "a simple exchange of values," as does Brett. Jake alone understands that life is unfair. Meanwhile, Hemingway continues to connect Brett with prostitution: "I think it's a brothel!" Mike says of their hotel.
