The third level Notes Class 12 English | CBSE BOARD| NCERT| ENGLISH NOTES 2020| QUESTION ANSWER

The Third Level

Que.1:- What does the third level refer to?

 

Ans.1:- The third level refers to a medium of escape from present into past. One day, Charley wanders down into third level at Grand Central Station where there are only two, and finds himself in the year 1894.

Que.2:- Would Charley go back to the ticket-counter on the third level and buy two tickets for him and his wife to Galesburg?

Ans 2. In fact, there is no third level. Charley may continue his search for a while, but we don’t think he would ever be able to find the corridor that leads to the third level at Grand Central Station. So there is no possibility of his going back to the ticket-counter on the third level and buying two tickets for him and his wife to Galesburg.

 

Que.3 :-. Why did Charley meet a psychiatrist

Ans.3 :- Charley met a psychiatrist, since he was in a dilemma. He felt sure that he had been on the third level of the Grand Central Station, which everyone knows has only two levels. Even the Presidents of the railroads would swear on a stack of timetables that there were only two levels.

 

Que.4 :- . What proof did the psychiatrist provide?

Or

What was Charley’s argument when the psychiatrist told him that the stamp collection was a temporary refuge from reality?

 

Ans.4 :- Charley’s psychiatrist and his friends said that his stamp-collecting was an indication of his desire to seek “a temporary refuge from reality”, as was his collection of first-day covers.

Charley argued that his grandfather lived in nice and peaceful times, yet he was the one who had started the stamp collection. He did not need any “temporary refuge from reality”. He added that President Roosevelt collected stamps too.

 

Que.5 :- . How was Charley often lost on the Grand Central Station?

Ans 5:- Charley had went to the Grand Central Station hundreds of times. However, at times, he was

 always lost in new doorways and corridors. Once, he entered a tunnel and came out in the lobby of a

 hotel. Another time, he reached in an office building

Que.6 Discuss the importance of Sam’s letter to Charley.

Ans.6 Charley, the protagonist of the story, gives up hope of ever finding the third level again and resumes his hobby of collecting stamps. It is then that he comes across the first-day cover which he had not seen before and should not have been there. It carried the stamp of July 18, 1894, and had been posted from Galesburg, Illinois. As he reads the content of the letter, a shocked Charley realises that it was from Sam, his psychiatrist friend. Though he had earlier hoped that the third level existed, now he had actually found it and been there for two weeks. Very different from the modern world full of stress, worry and insecurities, Sam describes it as a peaceful place, full of warm and friendly people and an old-world charm. He urges Charley and Louisa not to stop their search and not give up, till they find the third level. Thus, Sam reaffirms Charley’s conviction about the existence of the third level.

 

Que 7 ‘The Third Level’ explores an intersection of time and space. Discuss.

Ans.7 In ‘The Third Level’ Jack Finney gives ‘time travel’ a new dimension through his protagonist, Charley. The third level is the point where the past and the present meet. One evening, on his way back from work, Charlie finds himself in the third level of the Grand Central Station in New York. He discovers that things were different and realises that he is back in 1894. It was the period that Charley would love to be in. An excited Charley wants to buy two tickets to Galesburg, a peaceful town in the pre-war period, which Sam, Charley’s psychiatrist friend, interprets as his desire to escape the stress of modern living. Later, Sam himself withdraws all his savings and exchanges it for 1894 currency. He thus, is able to cross time and reach a quiet and peaceful past where his services as a psychiatrist would not be required. Louisa believes that one can cross the time dimension only after Sam’s letter of affirmation.

Thus, the happiness of all the three characters of the story revolve around the third level.

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Que.8 .Charley wanted to go home quickly but he reached the third level. How did he get there?

Ans 8. One summer night, Charley was late at the office. As he wanted to get home quickly, he decided to take the subway from Grand Central.

He went into the Grand Central and went to the steps of the first level. Then he went down another flight of stairs to reach the second level. He found an arched doorway and was lost in the corridor where he was slanted downwards. He thought it to be wrong. But he continued walking. He found nobody on the way. From there, the tunnel took a sharp turn to the left. He went down a short flight of stairs. For a moment he perceived, he had once again come back to the second level. However, everything there was different and old-fashioned. There were fewer ticket windows. The information booth in the centre was made of wood and looked very old. It was then he realised suddenly that he had reached the third level.

 

Que.9. What was the third level like? How did Charley know he had bumped into the past?

Ans 9 There was no third level at the Grand Central. It was only Charley’s journey into the past. The third level appeared to be railway station of about a century ago. The rooms were smaller and ticket windows were few. The information booth in the centre was of wood and old-fashioned. The man in the booth wore sleeve protectors and a green eyeshade. Lights were flickering as they were open-flame gaslights. Brass spittoons were found on the floor. Most people bore beards and side burns and fancy moustache. He saw a man had a gold watch. A woman wore a dress with leg-of-mutton sleeves and high buttoned shoes. The locomotive was small with a funnel-shaped stack. A newsboy had stack of The World. It was published on June 11, 1894. It made Charley sure that he had bumped into the past.

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