The Third Level Question Answer

Ch-1 The Third Level - Jack Finney 

Q1.What does' The Third Level' refer to in the story ?

The third level refers to the subway of the Grand Central Station that takes passengers to Galesburg, Illinois. The third level  on the station was a medium of escape for Charley, the narrator from the harsh realities of modern life. It provided him a base where he could interweave fantasy and reality

Q2.What convinced Charley that he had reached the third level at Grand Central Station and not the second level?

Ans.The general layout of the third level was different from that of the second level. It had comparatively smaller rooms, fewer ticket windows and lesser train gates. The information booth in the centre was made of wood and looked old. The place with its brass spittoons did not look very bright. So Charley was convinced it was not the second level.

Q3.How does Charley, the narrator describe the third level at Grand Central Station?

Answer:

Charley says that the rooms on the third level were smaller than that of the second level. There were fewer ticket windows and train gates and the information booth in the centre was wood and old looking. There were open- flame gaslights and brass spittoons on the floor. Everyone at the station was dressed in nineteenth century dresses.

He looked at the newspapers and found a copy of the newspaper ‘The World’, which carried the main story on President Cleveland. Then he confirmed from the Public Library files that the newspaper he had seen was dated 11th June, 1894.

Q4. Do you think that the third level was a medium of escape for Charley? Why?

Answer:Yes, I think that the third level was a medium of escape for Charley. Life in modern world is full of insecurity, fear, war, worries and stress. Man has to confront them all the times. The harsh realities of life make living quite unpleasant and even unbearable. So he wants to escape into a wishful world. Charley talks to his psychiatrist friend about the third level at the Grand Central Station. His friend calls it “a walking-dream wish fulfillment”. Charley possesses an escapist tendency. Even his stamp collecting is a ‘temporary refuge from reality’.

Q5.Would Charley ever go back to the ticket-counter on the third level to buy tickets to Galesburg for himself and his wife? 

Answer No, Charley would never go back to the ticket-counter on the third level to buy tickets to Galesburg for himself and his wife because third level was his imagination.

Q6. What do you infer from Sam's letter to Charley? 

Answer: Sam's letter is a consequence of Chartey's thoughts. Sam's letter was full of mystery when Charley came across it. This can be understood from the truth that the letter was enclosed in the oldest first-day cover and directed to his grandfather. Usually, the first-day covers have blank papers in them, but this one included a letter. This is made so that the envelope is stamped along with the date, and it remains as a remembrance always. So these kinds of envelopes carry just blank letters and should not be opened. In this letter, Sam had notified Charley that he was living on the third level. He had also stated that Charley and his wife keep walking for the third level. This confirms that Sam's letter is an outcome of Charley's complete imagination.

Q7.The modern world is full of insecurity, fear, war, worry and stress. What are the ways in which we attempt to overcome them? Answar: The contemporary world is full of illusion, insecurity, war, fear, worry, tension, and stress. This is because. the world is full of competition and people need to pull each other downward. People can overcome this unrealnoss, anxieties, and insecurities bred by our certain existence in advanced work by getting involved in useful and practical activities.People need to spend a good time with friends and family, be productive in art, poetry, prose, or in pursuing their hobbies.   Q8. Do you see an intersection of time and space in the story? 

Ans.Yes, there are certain instances in the story that show an intersection of time and space. Firstly, the first two levels of Grand Central Station were located in the present time while the third level existed in the 1890s. Secondly, Charley and his wife, Louisa, live in the present time yet he rushes to get old currency to buy two tickets to go to the Galesburg of 1894. Further, the old architecture of the platform at the third level is different from the modern platforms of the first two levels. Besides, the archaic manner of dressing by the people, and the newspaper, The World, dated June 11, 1984 also overlaps with Charley’s real time world and existence. Lastly, the letter that was mailed to Charley’s grandfather on 18th July, 1894 highlights the intersection of time and space as the sender (Charley’s friend Sam) and receiver (Charley himself) belong to the present time.

Q9. Apparent illogicality sometimes turns out to be a futuristic projection? Discuss.

Ans.It is true that apparent illogicality sometimes turns out to be a futuristic projection. Before the Wright Brothers invented the first aeroplane, nobody could have dared to believe that man could fly. Before Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, it would have been impossible to believe in long-distance talks happening in the real-time interface. Moreover, there are examples of inventions, like that of inventing a modern-day sewing machine with a needle that has hole on its wrong end, which were conceived in dreams but now are part of our everyday reality.

All this emphasises that fantasies of one point of time that seem illogical may turn out to be revolutionary things that change the future of the mankind. Similarly, it would not be far-fetched to think about railway stations fitted with time-machine devices that would make travel from one era to another just a matter of time.

Q10. 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?

Answer:

Besides philately, there are many other ways to help keep the past alive. Holding on to the past alive also means protecting the memories, which can be preserved in numerous ways. Philately is collecting the stamps that transport us into our actual past. In the past, people would maintain a diary to keep incidents recorded. Some people would also safely preserve letters, souvenirs, gifts, and coins that they got from others. In the modern world, as time flies and technology develops in people's lives, they make videos or take photographs to capture the moments

The ability to fluctuate between the past, present, and future is a great intellectual gift, it is good to make mistakes in our past. We can take beautiful lessons from it and can make today and tomorrow wonderful Human beings have a good ability to keep events recorded in mind. This enables them to continually go back to any situation in the past and revive it.

Q11.What do you learn about Galesburg, Illinois during 1894 from the lesson ‘The Third Level’? [40-50 Words]

Ans. It was a peaceful place. Galesburg of 1894 was a wonderful town with big old frame houses, huge lawns and big trees whose branches meet overhead and roof the streets. People sat in lawns, men smoked cigars and talked quietly, the women waved palm-leaf fans.

Q12.How did Charley ‘reach’ the third level of the Grand Central Station? [30-40 words]

Ans. Having worked late at the office Charley decided to take a train back home. So he came to Grand Central Station and from the second level he got lost while ducking into an arched doorway and found himself inside a tunnel. This tunnel took him to another light of stairs and he found himself on the third level of the station.

Q13.Why did Charley buy old-style currency? 

Ans. Charley wanted to buy two old Galesburg tickets because he wanted to live there. It was a great place with big trees and frame homes. So, he spent all the money he had on old-style money. But he never went back to the third floor.

Q14.Why did Charley rush back from the third level? 

Answer:

When Charley took out the modem currency to pay for the two tickets to Galesburg, the ticket clerk accused him of trying to cheat him. He threatened to hand Charley over to the police. Charley was frightened and he decided to rush back from the third level, lest he was arrested and put into prison.

Q15.What would you describe as your “waking-dream wish fulfilment”? Explain. 

Ans. Charley quoted this statement. A waking dream wish fulfilment is what we wish to happen or see. It’s not the reality. He told this to Sam, his psychiatrist. While talking about the third level, Charley quoted this statement. He is an Escapist. He couldn’t bear all the tensions happening around him. He said this out of his imagination.