CHAPTER: 1

The Third Level                                                                            Jack Finney

SUMMARY It is an open-ended story and employs an intersection of time and space. The protagonist of the story, Charley, wanders into the third level of the Grand Central Station, New York. But as per the record, there were only two levels. Charley gets confused and reports this problem to his psychiatrist friend, Sam who said that it was just a waking dream wish fulfillment and the main reason was, he was unhappy. Sam explained that the modern world was full of insecurity, fear, war, worry etc. and he wanted to escape. But it was difficult for Charley to accept it. Charley narrates the whole incidence how he got into the third level. One night he worked late at his office. He wanted to get to his apartment soon so he decided to take subway from Grand Central. He had been in and out of Grand Central hundreds of times but he always bumped into new doorways and corridors. At the station, the corridor he was in began angling left and in a short while he found himself at the third level. He saw the room was smaller, there were fewer ticket windows and train gates, and the information centre was wood and old looking. He found that the people were also in old-fashioned clothes. To make sure, he walked over to a newsboy. He saw that the newspaper was The World which hadn’t been published for years. He turned towards the ticket window to purchase two tickets to Galesburg, Illinois. But he didn’t have old currency notes and the clerk threatened him so Charley ran away from there. Next day he drew three hundred dollars from his account and went to a coin dealer to exchange the currency with the old one. He got less than two hundred. But he could never find the corridor which led to the third level.    Later one night fussing with his stamp collection, Charley found a first day cover but it was not empty. There was a letter mailed at his grandfather’s address. It was written by Sam who wanted Charley to keep on looking for the third level.

GLOSSARY

Swear                          -           Affirm, Avow

Stack                           -           Pile, Heap

Refuge                                    -           Shelter, Recourse

Tan                              -           Yellowish brown colour

Gabardine                   -           Tightly woven fabric of cotton

Duck                           -           Bend, Evade

Lobby                          -           Hall, Vestibule

Bump                          -           Collide, Hit

Spittoon                      -           A bowl shaped vessel to spit

Lapel                           -           Extension of collar

Sideburns                    -           Sideboards, Sidewhiskers

Stack                           -           Chimney, Funnel

Skin                             -           Swindle, To strip of money

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

1.         What does the third level refer to?

Ans:   The third level refers to an imaginary place of escape for Charley. He assumed of it being present at the Grand Central Station.

2.         Why did the narrator meet a psychiatrist?

Ans:    As per the records there were only two levels at the Grand Central Station but Charleysaw the third level. That’s why he met his psychiatrist friend to make it sure whether he was right or not.

3.         What, according to the psychiatrist, was Charley’s problem?

Ans:    According to the psychiatrist, the third level at Grand Central Station was Charley’s waking- dream wish fulfillment. The psychiatrist also added that Charley was unhappy because of the insecurity, fear, war, worry and that he just wanted to escape just like everyone else. 

4.         What does Charley think of Grand Central?

Ans:    Charley thought that Grand Central was growing like a tree, pushing out new corridors and stair cases, like roots. There was probably a long tunnel that nobody knew about, feeling its way under the city, on its way to Times Square, and maybe another to Central Park. He thought Grand Central had been an exit, a way of escape. 

5.         Describe Galesburg, as it existed in the year 1894?

Ans:    Galesburg was a wonderful town with big old frame houses, huge lawns, and tremendous trees whose branches met overhead and roofed over the streets. In 1894, summerevenings were twice as long, and people sat on their lawns, the men smoking. 

6.         What happened when Charley went to buy the tickets?

Ans:    The clerk at the ticket counter stared hard at Charley and also glanced at his fancy hat bands. But he figured the fare. When Charley was about to pay the fare for two tickets, he told him that it wasn’t money and if Charley tried to cheat him, he wouldn’t get far. Charley went away from there as fast as he could. 

7.         What did Charley suspect when his friend Sam Weiner disappeared?

Ans:  When Sam Weiner disappeared, Charley thought that he might have gone to Galesburg  because he always said that he liked the sound of the place.

8.         What was written on the paper that Charley found inside the envelope?

Ans:   The letter confirmed the fact that the third level was there and he had been there for two weeks. He also asked Charley to keep looking for the third level and it was worth the effort.

9.         Do you think that the third level was a medium of escape for Charley? Why?

Ans:    Yes, I think that the third level was a medium of escape for Charley because as per records there were only two levels. The third level might be Charley’s imaginary creation to escape from harsh realities of life.

10.       What is a first-day cover?

Ans:   When a new stamp is issued, stamp collectors buy some and use them to mail envelopes to themselves on the very first day of sale and the postmark proves the date. The envelope is called a first day cover.

11.       What do you infer from Sam’s letter to Charley? 

Ans:   The letter shows that the third level existed but it seems to be Sam’s trick to keep Charley happy and busy as Charley was quite upset when he could not find the third level again.

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

1.         ‘The Third Level’ is a story that illustrates an intersection of time and space. Elaborate.

Ans:    The third level is a point where the past and present meet. Charley, the protagonist loses his way and finds himself at the third level of grand central station. He felt himself in 1894. He wanted to go to Galesburg but he didn’t have the old currency notes so he ran away unwilling to go to jail. But he could never find the third level again. Later his friend Sam went to Galesburg and wrote a letter to Charley asking him to keep searching the third level. Thus we can say that there is an intersection of time and space in the story as we see both the story and characters move back and forth in time and space.