THE THIRD LEVEL Chapter- 1

Vistas
About the Author

Walter Barden “Jack” Finney was an American author. He was born on October 2, 1911 in
Milwauke, Wiconsin, USA. Finney was given the name Jack Finney. After his father died when he
was three years old, he was renamed Walter Barden Finney in honour of his father. He graduated in
1934 from Knox college in Galesburg. He died of pneumonia and emphysema on November 14,
1995 at the age of 84 in Greenbrae, California. His best known works are science fiction and thrillers,
including The Body Snatchers and Time and Again.

Summary of the Chapter

The Third Level at Grand Central Station

Grand Central Station of New York has two levels. But Charley, a thirty-one year old dweller of the
city, talks about there being three. Not only does he believe in the existence of this hypothetical third
level but also claims to have been there.

A visit to his psychiatrist friend

Charley visits a psychiatrist friend to talk about this problem. The psychiatrist calls it a “waking-
dream wish fulfillment” and rationalises Charley's psychology by saying that the “modern world is
full of insecurity, fear, worry, and war...” and everybody wants to escape to some “temporary refuge
from reality.” According to him, even hobbies like stamp collection is a manifestation of this escape.

Charley loses his way at Grand Central

The fast growing Grand Central station at times seems to be a maze to Charley. He had lost his way a
couple of times earlier too while taking the subway. Once, he entered the lobby of the Roosevelt
Hotel while the other time he emerged at an office building that was three blocks away. But this time
when he loses his way, something unique happens. He visits the third level!

The Third Level

Charley keeps walking in the quiet corridor, angling left and slanting downward, till he reaches an
architecturally old station that is completely different from the two familiar levels. The antiquated
small room with fewer ticket counters and train gates, a wooden information booth, flickering open
flame gas lights and brass spittoons reminds him of the architecture of the 1800s. He also finds that
people are dressed in outmoded outfits. He notices that the date on the newspaper The World is
printed June 11, 1894. As he tenders money to the clerk at the counter to buy two tickets, he realises
that he need to have old currency bills to do so.

Charley's plan for a journey not realised

He had always wanted to travel to Galesburg with his wife, Louisa. In his mind, it is “a wonderful
town still, with big old frame houses, huge lawns, and tremendous trees....” It is a place with long
and pleasant summer evenings and where people have ample of time. So, the next day during lunch,
he exchanges three hundred dollars for old style bills amounting to some two hundred only. The loss
doesn’t bother him much as he believes that in Galesburg everything will be cheaper and that he can
manage even with a small amount. But, he could never again find the corridor leading to the third
level.
Sam goes missing!

His wife Louisa is worried after knowing all this and asks him not to look for the third level any
further. Suddenly Charley realises that his friend, Sam Weiner, is nowhere to be found, so he and his
wife keep looking for him in the weekends. Sam was the one with whom Charley used to share his
ideas about Galesburg.

Philately & the first day covers

Philately is not just stamp collection but a broad term including the study of stamps, postal history
and other related items. When a new stamp is issued, on the first day, people mail a blank paper to
themselves and then retain that unopened letter with the date on the postmark. Charley has inherited
the hobby and the collection from his grandfather.

A letter from Sam

One day while fidgeting with his stamp collection, Charley comes across a letter that was not there
earlier. It bears the postmark on a faded six-cent stamp with a picture of the President Garfield. The
envelope was sent on July18, 1894 to Charley's grandfather in Galesburg and is addressed to
Charley. The letter reads that Sam has reached Galesburg and is having whale of a time there. He
also invites Charley and Louisa to Galesburg. When Charley goes to the stamp and coin store, he is
apprised of Sam's exchanging eight hundred dollars for the old currency bills to establish his business
of hay feed and grain in Galesburg. The letter was written by Sam Weiner, who was Charley's
psychiatrist!

KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER

Charlie : 31 year old, office goer, claims visiting the third levels
• Description of the Third level
– Small room, few ticket windows and train gates, wooden and old looking information booth.
– Men had beards, side burns, fancy moustaches
– Women wore skirts, high buttoned shoes and leg of muttons sleeves.
– A man looking at a pocket watch
– Old style locomotive with funnel shaped stack
– Open gaslights being used
– Brass spittoons on floor
– Wants to visit his home town, Galesburg
– Past is quiet and peaceful
– Tries to buy two tickets to Galesburg (one ticket for his wife Louisa)
– Clerk grows suspicious as Charlie doesn’t have old style currency.
– Back to present day world
• People’s reaction to Charlie’s experience
– Presidents of NY railroads swear on the existence of two levels.
– Psychiatrist friend Sam refuses to believe
– Interprets it as an escape from insecurity fear, war and worry of the modern world.
– Louisa too disbelieves Charlie
• Charlie’s determination to find the Third Level
– Withdraws money, buys old currency worth 300 dollars.
– Fails to find the Third Level
– Louisa and Psychiatrist worried.
• Unexpected Ending
– Sam disappears
– Charlie finds a first day cover, never seen before
– Note from Sam dated 18th July 1894 from Galesburg
– Sam asks Charlie and Louisa to come to Galesburg and enjoy quiet and peaceful life.
– Charlie discovers Sam had bought old currency worth 800 dollars.
– Enough to help him start hay and grain business in 1894 at Galesburg

QUESTION AND ANSWER ( Reading with Insight )

Q1. Do you think that the third level was a medium of escape for Charley ? Why?

Ans.: .If Yes

it was a waking dream

a wish fulfilment

provided escape from modern day fear, insecurity, worry

If No

then the place really existed as Charley describes vividly railway station, people, dresses, newspaper and
counters

Sam exchanging money, disappearance, letter in the first day cover

Q2. What do you infer from Sam’s letter to Charlie?

Ans. Sam’s letter from Galesburg in 1894 to Charley in the twentieth century leaves the readers mystified and
perplexed. Charley finds this letter among the first day covers of his grandfather’s collection. Someone had
mailed it to his grandfather at his home in Galesburg. The address on the envelope said so. But the paper
inside the envelope was not blank ,rather Charley found a letter written to him by Sam in which he informs
that he has reached the third level.

Several inferences could be drawn from Sam’s letter. Firstly ,it is possible that Sam ,getting influenced by
Charley’s glowing description of idyllic Galesburg , got transported to the peaceful past through the medium
of imagination. His inability to cope up with rigours of harsh reality led him to take recourse in the tranquil
world of Galesburg. So ,through the letter , Sam suggests Charley and Louisa to keep looking for the third
level till they find it.

Secondly. the question could be raised about the authenticity of the letter. Is the letter written by Sam or it is
written by Charley himself? If charley could speak about his journey in the third level which is unknown to
others, so his possibility of writing the letter in the name of Sam could not be ruled out. The introductory part
of the letter seems to be a projection of Charley’s waking dream wish fulfilment. It confirms his belief in the
existence of the third level.

Thus, the letter appears to be a strange mixture of the real and the fantastic and the author has made a very
clever use of it so that it boggles the reader’s mind.

Q3. The modern consumerist world is full of fear, insecurities, stress and wars. What are the ways in
which we try to combat them? Answer with reference to The Third Level.

Ans Value Points

Present world- rat race

• Everybody running after power, money or success.

• One gets stressed out

• Feeling of being a failure develops

• To overcome such insecurities and fears one starts imagining

• Charley starts imagining his grandfather and the village he came from

• He starts believing that there is a third level at the grand station, New York from where trains went to
Galesburg, Illinois, where his grandfather used to live

-Pursuing hobbies such as collecting stamps is also a way to escape harsh reality.

Q4. Do you find an intersection of time and space in the story ?

Ans. “The Third Level” is a story based on the idea of time –travel where Charley is transported from the
present world to the year 1894.

Charley while wandering inside Grand Central Station suddenly finds portal that transports him to 1894 where
the dim and flickering light of open-flame gaslights illuminated the place .Everyone in the station was dressed
like eighteen nineties.

Charley comes back to the twentieth century while his friend Sam disappears into Galesburg of 1894. Thus
,Sam’s stay in Galesburg of 1894 and yet his communication with Charley in twentieth century brings about a
convincing intersection of time and space.

Q5. Apparent illogicality sometimes turns out to be a futuristic Projection ? Discuss

Ans. Logic is not the only yardstick for guiding ,motivating and inspiring human thought and feelings .Every
occurrence in nature cannot be explained by logic .The visualization of something that the world is unfamiliar
with is often termed as illogical .All the great scientists ,poets and philosophers have had vision about the
future ,these dreams may not have appeared logical at that time but may come true later on .For example: The
diaries of Leonardo de Vinci contained sketches of aero planes and many such inventions which may have
appeared illogical at that time but scientists invented and developed them later. Similarly in the Chapter ‘The
Third level ‘the concept of time travel has been dealt with Today it may appear to be a illogical but who
knows in the future it may become a reality and man may travel back and forth in time

Q6. Philately keeps the past alive .Discuss other ways in which this is done.What do you think about the
human tendency to constantly move between the past, present and future?

A: The study of stamps is known as philately .It is one of the oldest hobbies in the world. Through Philately
we study about the nations , politics ,important events ,persons or development. Stamps reveal a country’s
history, culture and civilization, this is how it keeps the past alive. Some other hobbies through which one can
keep the past alive are coin collection , archaeology, Paleontology(study of fossils ) and the study of plants. It
is strange that we retrospect about the past , anticipate the future and yet live in the present. The past ,present
and future are like links in the chain of existence. It is human tendency to flit between the past, present and the
future .Shelly has aptly said “We look before and after and pine for what is not”

Q.What des the Third level refer to?

Ans.The Third level refers to that level where one transcends the boundaries of time and space and reaches far
flung destinations like Galesburg, Illinois, 1894.Few people like the narrator and his friend Sam dare to
explore it “Third Level’Could also symbolize man’s yearning to get transported to the world of imagination as
an escape from the world of harsh realities.