The Third Level by Jack Finney

The Third Level 

By Jack Finney 


 Reading with Insight 

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

Ans:- Yes it is a medium of escape because his psychiatrist friend too discovers the third level. The author talks about three levels. The first level the ground level,  but in fact it is the present. The elevated level, the future and the third level the underground level which is past. Almost everybody in this world is insecure, worried and depressed so he tries to escape into Past or Future and discovers second or third level.

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

Ans. Sam’s letter to reassures Charlie that the third level exists. It means that Sam who is a psychiatrist too escapes into the third level, the Past.

3. ‘The modern world is full of insecurity, fear, war, worry and stress.’ What are the ways in which we attempt to overcome them? 

Ans. The ways to overcome insecurity fear, war, worry and stress are playing any musical instruments, singing and dancing, pursuing a hobby like painting and drawing and so on.

4. Do you see an intersection of time and space in the story? 

Yes, The Grand Central Station does present the intersection of time and space. 

5. Apparent illogicality sometimes turns out to be a futuristic projection? Discuss. 

Ans. Time travel is not the reality but this illogical concept does present a futuristic projection. The scientists may work on it and make it a reality.

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

Ans. Philately keeps the Past alive. The other ways are celebrating and event and preserving our memories through photographs in an album. Giving gifts on birthdays. A man goes into future or past when he is not happy with the present. It is a natural tendency

7. You have read ‘Adventure’ by Jayant Narlikar in Hornbill Class XI. Compare the interweaving of fantasy and reality in the two stories. 

Ans: The adventure is also a story based on time travel into the past like we see in the Third Level. The fantasy of time travel into the past and interweaving the events of past makes the story very interesting. 



Summary of the third Level by Jack Finny
Charley, a 31-year-old man, claims to have discovered a third level at Grand Central Station, which transports him to the year 1894. Despite his psychiatrist suggesting this is a hallucination stemming from modern-day stress and a desire to escape, Charley believes in the third level's reality. One evening, Charley, while trying to catch a subway home, gets lost and finds himself in this mysterious third level, where everything, including people’s attire and gaslights, dates back to the 1890s. He even tries to buy tickets to Galesburg, Illinois, but is thwarted by his modern currency. Determined to return, he later buys old-style money but never finds the third level again.

Charley's wife, Louisa, worries about him, but their perspective changes when Charley discovers a first-day cover from 1894 in his stamp collection. The cover contains a letter from his friend and psychiatrist, Sam Weiner, who has disappeared and now lives in 1894 Galesburg, setting up a hay, feed, and grain business. This discovery confirms to Charley that the third level exists and motivates both him and Louisa to continue searching for it.
Location: Satna, Madhya Pradesh, India

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