The Train From Rhodesia

Why is the wife in this story so upset by her husband’s last-minute purchase of the carved lion? How does this misunderstanding show greater differences between them?

This story begins and ends with the images of a train entering and then leaving the station. What is the effect of this repetition? How is the train seen differently at the story’s end than at its beginning?

The train is twice described as “calling with no answer” (43). The call refers to the train’s arriving and departing whistle, but what are metaphorical meanings that it might also have? How do these meanings relate to the themes in the story?