VISTAS: LESSON 1: THE THIRD LEVEL BY JACK FINNEY

About the Author

Jack Finney is best-known for his science fiction and thrillers. Two of his novels,
‘The Body Snatchers’ and ‘Good Neighbor Sam’ became the basis of popular
films. Jack Finney first showed an interest in time travel in the short-story
collection ‘The Third Level’. Finney’s greatest success came with his science
fiction novel ‘Time and Again’ which again has Time travel as the theme and it
was something that interested him.

The background

The story was first published in 1952, some years after the World War II ended.
The War had destroyed the economy of all countries. Added to the destruction and
trauma caused by War, the lack of common facilities, unemployment and fear of
War led to a lot of stress and anxiety among ordinary people. The author in a
humorous way explores one of the ways people may try to deal with this stress.
The story can also be considered to be science fiction.

The main action of the story takes place in the Grand Central Station of New York
city. This is New York’s main station, it was completed in 1913. It had many
arched corridors, platforms and two levels. The suburban i.e. local trains leave
from the second level. As Charley, the narrator says, it seems that Grand Central is
growing like a tree, its branches and roots seem to be spreading out in all
directions. It is actually a very huge train station. Therefore, it is easy to get lost
here.

The plot

Charley the narrator is an ordinary guy, who works in New York and lives in the
suburbs like any other person. His hobby is stamp collecting, a collection he has
inherited from his grandfather. One day, he had been working late and was in a
hurry to get back home. He reached the Grand central station and walked towards
the second level to take the suburban train back home when he got lost, and found
himself on the third level of the station and also, that he had travelled back in time
to 1890’s.
Analysis/ Points to note

• The story is in narrated by the main protagonist, Charley. He describes

himself as--I’m just an ordinary guy named Charley, thirty-one years old,
and I was wearing a tan gabardine suit and a straw hat with a fancy band;
I passed a dozen men who looked just like me. And I wasn’t trying to
escape from anything; I just wanted to get home to Louisa, my wife.
• About his finding the Third Level: His psychiatrist friend called it “waking
dream wish fulfillment”—meaning it was just his imagination, trying to
make real his own dream of an ideal world by day dreams. Even his hobby is
called by his other friends “a temporary refuge” – that is it was an escape
from facing the harsh realities of life after the War.
• Charley’s counter- argument: 1. Everyone, not only he, was stressed out
after the War but then, not everyone was discovering a third level at the
Grand Central.
2. His grandfather had the same hobby but he lived
in a time that was free from war, worry, insecurity, scarcity; he didn’t need
any escape.
• Charley is an absent-minded person as he says he often bumps into new
corridors and stairways, or from Grand Central he finds himself few blocks
away in Roosevelt Hotel, etc.
• In Charley’s opinion he found the route to the peaceful times of 1890’s
through the Grand Central because this place has always been an exit, an
escape to the safer, more pleasant places on the suburbs of New York.
• How he knew he had travelled back in time: 1. There were fewer ticket
windows, the room was smaller.
2. The information booth was wooden
an old looking, the man inside wore a green eyeshade and black sleeve
protectors.
3. The light was dim, gaslights i.e.
kerosene lamps.
4.Brass spittoons on the floor.
5. The clothes worn were old
fashioned- a man had a pocket watch, his coat had thin lapels; the women’s
skirts were ankle length, the dresses had ‘leg-of-mutton’ sleeves.
 6. All the men had big moustaches
and side burns.
7. The train engine was the old steam
engine with a funnel in front.
• Charley confirmed that he was really in the past by moving to the newspaper
stand—the paper “The World” was there, the date June 11 1894. It wasn’t
published anymore.
• Charley wanted to buy 2 tickets to Galesburg, Illinois because that’s where
his grandfather had his house and he had spent his early childhood there. He
remembers how slow and peaceful life was then.
• ‘‘That ain’t money, mister,’’ he said, ‘‘and if you’re trying to skin me, you
won’t get very far,’’: The man at the ticket counter said this because of the
present time currency that Charley gave to buy the tickets. The man thought
he was being fooled and Charley was trying to rob him.
• He wasn’t sure how he returned to the present but he never found the third
level again, even though he searched, being prepared this time having
bought old style currency.
• He gave up as his wife didn’t believe him and was annoyed he took out most
of their savings from the bank to buy old money.
• Soon things changed and both he and his wife started looking for the third
level. The turning point – One night he was going through his stamp
collection when he discovered a first day cover that had not been there
before.
• First Day Cover – serious stamp collectors collect only those stamps that
have the postmark on it, the postmark makes the stamp authentic and valid.
The postmark is the seal of the post office with that day’s date on it. So with
special issues of stamps [like to commemorate an event or person] the
collectors buy the stamp, paste it on an envelope with just a blank sheet of
paper inside and post it addressed to themselves. So when they receive it, the
stamp has the postmark and it’s never opened because they know it has a
blank sheet inside.
• This particular first day cover had a letter inside written by his friend Sam. It
said he was in Galesburg in 1894, how peaceful and pleasant it all was and
 requested them to keep searching for the third level. Sam asked him and his
wife Louisa to go there.
• At the end we come to know that Sam was his psychiatrist, implying that
though he didn’t believe Charley at first but finally he too had started
thinking about it and had travelled back in time.
• The author leaves it for the narrator to interpret the story, that is, to believe
Charley or not.
• Going with the evidence of the letter we can say Charley had really travelled
back in time.
• On the other hand, considering the stressful times we can say it was all
imagination and just a means of escape from the insecurities and anxieties of
life. Even we can say Sam the psychiatrist must have lost his mind after
continuously dealing with the troubles of other people.