CBSE Class 12 English Vistas Chapter 01 The Third Level Notes Set 02

THE THIRD LEVEL BY JACK FINNEY

About the story: The Third Level by Jack Finney is about the harsh realities of war. War has irreversible consequences which leaves people in a state of insecurity. It is also about the modern day problems and how the common man tends to escape reality by various means. In this story, the protagonist Charley hallucinates and reaches the third level of the Grand Central Station which has only two levels.

THEME

The Third Level is a Science-fiction which explores the concept of Time travel. Jack Finney interweaves reality and fantasy. The story moves between past and present. The Third level is a medium to connect both the past and the present.

The Third Level represents a break from war, worry and the modern day anxieties. The 1890’s depict a tranquil life. Charley wants to escape to Illinois with his wife Louisa. His Psychiatrist friend Sam calls it a “waking- dream wish fulfilment”. Charley’s escapism as a refuge from reality and his attempts to be connected to the past by glorifying it form the theme of the story. The third level, the imaginary subway that takes one to the places in the past, becomes a medium of escape for Charley.

CHARACTERS

Charley:

• A 31 year old ordinary guy
• wears a tan gabardine suit & straw hat with a fancy band
• hobby of stamp collecting
• Gets lost in the Grand Central - once got into a tunnel but got out in Roosevelt Hotel lobby - another time came up in office building on 46th Street.

Louisa:

• wife of Charley
• sad to know about her husband’s unhappiness
• becomes worried after Charley withdraws money for getting old style currency
• convinces Charley to stop looking for the third level till getting the note signed by Sam

Sam Weiner:

• Charley’s Psychiatrist friend
• dismissed Charley’s visit to the third level as waking-dream wish fulfilment
• Charley’s hobby (stamp collecting) as temporary refuge from reality
• His disappearance & First Day Cover with note dated July 18, 1894 was a Proof that made Charley & Louisa look for the Third Level.
• He wrote that he was running Hay feed & grain business & not a psychiatrist in the new place.

THE STORY AT A GLANCE

1. Charley’s Entry to the Third Level

• On his way home
  • Boarded subway instead of bus
  • Entered Grand Central to go to Second level
  • Got lost, reached Third Level

Third Level – description of the place

• small rooms, fewer ticket windows & train gates
• wood & old looking info booth
• flickering gas lights & brass spittoons
• steam engine (Currier & Ives locomotive with funnel shaped stack)

2. Third Level – people

• Dressed like 1890 something
• Green eye shade & long black sleeve protectors – man in info booth
• Derby hat, black four-button suit with tiny lapels, big, black, handlebar moustache – man with gold watch in vest pocket
• Dress with leg-of mutton sleeves & skirts, high-buttoned shoes – woman entered through train gate
• Solid Proof – The World (not in circulation in Charley’s times)
• news boy selling copies (dated June 11, 1894)
• lead news about President Cleveland (helped Charlie locate copy in Public Library files)

3. Fleeing Third Level

• Approached clerk for two tickets to Galesburg, Illinois
• Threatened by clerk for trying to give new style currency
• Left for fear of being in jail

4. Reason for Consulting Psychiatrist

• Only person to be in Third level
• Presidents of the New York Central and the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroads not ready to accept existence
• Waking-dream wish fulfilment
• Means to escape
• Unhappy – as the modern world is full of insecurity, fear, war, worry etc.
• Stamp collecting as evidence
• his temporary refuge from reality – friends
• Charley – unconvinced for his grandfather & President Roosevelt had stamp collection.

5. Charley

• 31 yrs old ordinary guy, wearing tan gabardine suit & straw hat with a fancy band
• ordinary like others
• not escaping but to be with wife Louisa
• getting lost
• once got into a tunnel but got out in Roosevelt Hotel lobby
• another time came up in office building on 46th Street

6. Grand Central

• growing like a tree
• new corridors & staircases like roots
• new tunnels
• an exit, way of escape for people

7. Search for Third Level

• stopped looking as Louisa was worried
• Sam Weiner’s disappearance
• First Day Cover with note dated July 18, 1894,signed by Sam - Proof
• Charley & Louisa looking every weekend
• running Hay feed & grain business & not as psychiatrist
• Visit to Stamp & coin store – for Old currency
• Charley less than 200 dollars
• Sam 800 dollars

8. Galesburg, Illinois

• wonderful town still
• in 1894- peaceful world

Sometimes I think Grand Central is growing like a tree, pushing out new corridors and staircases like roots. There’s probably a long tunnel that nobody knows about feeling its way under the city right now, on its way to Times Square, and maybe another to Central Park. And maybe — because for so many people through the years Grand Central has been an exit, a way of escape — maybe that’s how the tunnel I got into... But I never told my psychiatrist friend about that idea.

i) The above extract is NOT an example of ________.
(a) allegory
(b) analogy
(c) imagery
(d) metaphor
Answer: a

ii) Charley decided not to tell his psychiatrist friend about his idea. Choose the option that reflects the reaction Charley anticipated from his friend.
(a) “That’s such a lovely comparison. Why don’t you become a writer, Charley?”
(b) “Oh Charley. It is so sad to see your desperation to run away! So very sad.”
(c) “Maybe that’s how you entered the third level. Who would have thought?!”
(d) “You need help, my raving friend. You are way too invested in this crazy world.
Answer: d

iii) The idiom ‘feeling its way’ implies ______ movement.
(a) swift
(b) tentative
(c) circular
(d) disorganized
Answer: b

iv) The image of a tree to describe the Third Level lists some of the ways in which the symbolism of a tree is employed. Which of the following would represent an example as used by Charley in the above extract?
(a) ‘Stay grounded’ as the train station is underground.
(b) ‘Connect with your roots’ as he desires to go back to his past.
(c) ‘Enjoy the view’ as the station leads to all tourist sights of the city.
(d) ‘Keep growing’ as the station keeps renovating and expanding.
Answer: d

SHORT ANSWERS

Q 1. What does the third level refer to?
Answer: Third level refers to an additional floor at the Grand Central Station which originally only had two levels. It becomes a medium of escape for Charley.

Q 2. Do you see an intersection of time and space in the story?
Answer: Yes, there are a lot of instances that tell us about the intersection of time and space in the story. First intersection being the one between the first two levels of the Grand Central Station and its third level which is based somewhere in the 1890s whereas the former exists in the present times. Also, when Charley went to buy tickets for Galesburg which existed in 1894 while he and his wife exists in the present times. Not to ignore the old-fashioned architecture of the third level in contradiction to the modern interiors of the first two levels. Lastly, the letter dated 18th July, 1982 that Charley found also throws light upon the intersection of time and space as both the sender (Sam) and the receiver (Charley) exist in the present times.

LONG ANSWERS:

Q1. Imagine that you come across Charley’s diary. What might you find in it about the third level? Compose at least one diary entry based on any of the events from the story, ‘The Third Level’.
Answer: 

• The room was small and ticket windows were few
• Man at the ticket counter wore green eyeshade and sleeve protectors • Lights were dim and open gaslights were being used
• Brass spittoons were on the floor
• A man taking out a pocket watch
• Men with beards, sideburns and handle bar moustaches, dressed in old-fashioned suits
• Women wearing leg-of-mutton sleeves, skirts, high-buttoned shoes
• An old style locomotive with funnel-shaped stack