VELS GLOBAL SCHOOL – MOGAPPAIR

SUBJECT: ENGLISH GRADE: XII

THE THIRD LEVEL
JACK FINNEY Main Points
[Link] Central Station of New York has two levels. But Charley, a thirty-one year old
resident of New York, talks about a third level. He believes in the existence of this
hypothetical third level and claims to have been there.
[Link] visits a psychiatrist friend to talk about this problem. The psychiatrist calls it a
―waking-dream wish fulfillment‖ and rationalizes Charley's experience 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 thinks about his grandfather who didn‘t
need any refuge from reality.
3. 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.
4. 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!
[Link] 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.
6. 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.
7. 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 realizes that he needs to have old currency bills to do so.
[Link] 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 time for each other.
9. So, the next day during lunch, he exchanges three hundred dollars for old style bills
amounting to some two hundred only.
10. 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.
[Link] 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.
[Link] is not just stamp collection but a broad term including the study of stamps, postal
history and other related items.
13. 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. Such an envelope is known as
a ‗first day cover‘. Charley has inherited his grandfather‘s collection of first day covers.
[Link] 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.
15. The envelope was sent on July18, 1894 to Charley's grandfather in Galesburg and is
addressed to Charley.
16. The letter was written by Sam Weiner, who was Charley's psychiatrist! Sam has reached
Galesburg and is having whale of a time there.
17. 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.
SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS
1. Do you think that the third level was a medium of escape for Charley? Why? /How did
Charley‘s psychiatrist friend interpret his unique experience?
[Link], the third level was a medium of escape for Charley from the unhappy modern world
that is full of insecurity, fear, war, worry and the like. He could never find it again at the
Grand Central Station. Charley did not agree with his psychiatrist friend when the latter
called his experience of visiting the third level ‗a waking-dream wish fulfillment.‘ His friend
tried in vain to make him realise that his hallucinations are a result of his strong desire to
escape to the peaceful times of the 1890s. [Link] is a first day cover?
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. Such an envelope is known as
a ‘first day cover‘.
LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS
1. What does the third level refer to? [Link] Grand Central Station of New York has
subways on two levels from where the commuters take trains to different destinations. No
third level was ever built. However, the protagonist of the story, Charley, believes in the
existence of a third level, operating in a timeframe of 1890s. The third level signifies an
escape from the modern world that is ‘full of insecurity, fear, war, worry and all the rest of
it....’ The period of 1890s represents a peaceful life not possible in the present era. From this
level, the protagonist wants to travel to Galesburg, Illinois, with his wife Louisa. For him, it
is a part of reality while his psychiatrist friend calls it a ‘waking-dream wish fulfilment.’
[Link] Charley ever go back to the ticket-counter on the third level to buy tickets to
Galesburg for himself and his wife? Ans. After reading the story we get to know that Charley
was interested in travelling to Galesburg with his wife Louisa. However, he couldn‘t locate
the third level again. The first time round, he found the third level by accident. When he
reached the ticket-counter, he realised that the currency he had with him was not useful as it
belonged to a different period. He went back to convert his three hundred dollars into the
―old-style currency‖ that could enable him to buy two tickets to Galesburg. However, when
he returned to the Grand Central, he could not find the corridor leading to the third level. He
couldn‘t go back looking for the third level as his wife was too worried about him. Moreover,
he himself had stopped looking for it after sometime.
3. What do you infer from Sam‘s letter to Charley?
Ans. The letter was addressed to Charley but mailed to his grandfather in Galesburg, Illinois.
It was mailed in 1894 and now appears in his grandfather‘s collection. The letter was
suddenly found among the first-day covers where it had never been seen earlier. Moreover,
the contents of the letter are exactly what Charley thought about Galesburg of 1890s. Sam's
letter to Charley is a mystery that blends together the worlds of reality and fantasy, and thus,
needs further exploring. There are two perspectives from which one can look at the letter. At
one level, it proves that Sam has reached Galesburg of 1984. However, if we look at a deeper
level, we can infer that the letter is just another instance of his hallucination or dreams of
escapism. It is possible that while Charley was looking at the old first-cover letter, he was
carried away to a different world where the letter was sent to Charley by Sam. The letter
reflects Sam‘s undeterred urge that forces him to keep looking for the third level.

Questions for Practice

Q1. What did Sam mean when he said that Charley had a ‘waking dream wish fulfilment‘?
A. a dream that will become reality B. a dream that helps him forget his present C. a dream
that helps him to go to future D. a dream that helps him forget the past
Q2. ‗
‘That made my wife kind of mad.‟ What made Louisa mad/unhappy?
A. Charley‘s unhappiness B. Charley‘s waking dream wish fulfilment C. Charley‘s
happiness D. Charley‘s temporary refuge from reality
Q3. What do his friends refer to as ‗temporary refuge from reality‘?
A. His visit to Third level B. His occupation C. Stamp collection, his hobby D. Grand
Central as an exit
Q4. Now, I don‘t know why this should have happened to me. Why did Charley say so?
i. He is just like any other men of his times ii. He wasn‘t trying to escape iii. He is not like
other men at the third level iv. He was on his way to his uptown apartment v. He already has
a means of escape
A. i, ii & v B. ii, iii & v C. i, iii & iv D. i, ii & iv
Q5. Choose the option that suits the Grand Central Station as seen by Charley.
A. Station is like a huge tree B. Developing fast in an inconspicuous way C. New staircases,
corridors & tunnels like roots of tree D. All the above
Q6. Assertion (A) My three hundred dollars bought less than two hundred in old-style bills,
but I didn‘t care.
Reason (R) Eggs were just thirteen cents a dozen.
 A. A is true but R is false B. Both A and R are correct and R is the correct explanation for
A C. Both A and R are correct but R is not the correct explanation for A D. A is false but R
is true
Q7. Classify (1) to (4) as Fact (F) or Opinion (O), based on your reading of The Third Level.
1. Charley consulted his psychiatrist friend. 2. Charley‘s visit to third level was a waking
dream wish fulfilment. 3. Charley wanted two tickets to Galesburg of 1890s 4. Charley‘s
grandfather had a nice collection of stamps
A. F - 1, 3 & 4; O - 2 B. F - 1, 2, 3; O - 4 C. F - 2; O - 1, 3 & 4 D. F- 3 & 4; O - 1 & 2
I. Read the given extract to attempt the questions that follow. Of course the money was old-
style bills, half again as big as the money we use nowadays, and different-looking. I turned
away and got out fast. There’s nothing nice about jail, even in 1894.
Q8. From where did Charley get out fast?
A. Psychiatrist‘s consulting room B. Roosevelt Hotel C. Subway D. Third Level
Q9. What made Charley think about jail?
A. For trespassing into the third level B. Clerk‘s threat that he can‘t escape C. His failure to
get tickets D. His failure to keep change
Q10. Why was Charley unable to get tickets from the Third level to go to Galesburg?
A. Didn‘t have enough money B. Didn‘t have new style currency C. Didn‘t have old style
currency D. Couldn‘t communicate to clerk
Q11. Why did Charley turn away and get out fast?
A. Clerk refused to give tickets for he was looking strange B. Clerk refused to give tickets for
he did not have change C. Clerk refused to give tickets for there were no trains to Galesburg
D. Clerk refused to give tickets because he thought that Charley was trying to cheat him.
Q12. Select the option that best displays a cause-effect relationship.

II. Read the given extract to attempt the questions that follow.
 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 may be — 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.
Q13. Identify the figure of speech used that conveys the growing/developing nature of the
Grand Central station?
A. Metaphor B. simile C. synecdoche D. transferred epithet
Q14. Why does the writer talk about the tunnels to Times Square and Central Park?
A. To tell us that these two places are in New York. B. Both these places are accessible C.
These are exits of Grand Central D. Grand Central is ever growing
Q15. The development of the station seems to be inconspicuous. How do we know?
A. Growing like branches of tree B. Can accommodate any number of passengers C. New
tunnels are being developed without causing disturbance D. a third level to the station is
added
Q16. What is it that Charley did not disclose to his friend?
A. Grand Central is an exit B. Grand Central has many exits C. Many people enter Grand
Central D. None of the above
Q17. Why didn‘t Charley disclose ‘that idea‟ to his psychiatrist?
A. Psychiatrist wouldn‘t maintain its secrecy B. Psychiatrist wouldn‘t believe him C.
Psychiatrist would want to visit the third level D. Psychiatrist would convey to the presidents
of railroads

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