The Third Level by Jack Finney

Jack Finney
Jack Finney was an American author. His best-known works are science fiction and
thrillers, including ‘The Body Snatchers’ and Time and Again.’ His original name was
Walter Braden Finney. Born in Milwankee, he attended Knox College in Galesburg,
Illinois.
The Third Level
‘Charley is convinced that there are three, not just two, levels of Grand Central
Station. Charley’s psychiatrist Sam Weiner and his friends think his delusion is a
‘waking-dream wish fulfilment’ and like his stamp collection, a temporary refuge
from a world full of insecurity, fear, war and worry’ Charley describes how one
evening while hurrying home from office he decides to take the subway from Grand
Central Station, and gets lost. He eventually finds himself on a strange third level with
spittoons, gaslights, an ancient locomotive and people whose appearance and clothes
look strange. He realizes that he has somehow gone back in time to 1894, which is
confirmed by the newspaper’s lead story on President Cleveland. Charley tries to buy
tickets to Galesburg, Illinois, a wonderful town with big old frame houses, huge lawns
and tremendous trees, and where summer evenings were twice as long and people
lived in peace and harmony. But the clerk would not accept his 1950 currency and so
he leaves the station. During his lunch break the next day, Charley withdraws nearly
all his savings and buys oldstyle currency to buy tickets to Galesburg of 1894. But he
can never again find the entrance to the third level at Grand Central Station. Charley
finds evidence that the third level actually exists when he discovers a letter dated July
18, 1894 addressed to his grandfather at Galesburg, Illinois, from his psychiatrist Sam
Weiner who it seems was not skeptical of the third level as he had appeared.
Theme
The Third Level’ is a story that weaves together a psychological journey of the
narrator into past, present and moves towards future. There is always a natural human
tendency to constantly move between the past, the present and the future. Past, present
and future are strategically and organically interconnected. Man is mortal and has
many good and bad aspects of life like love, profit, loss, good, bad, etc. All these
aspects tend to affect the human mind. Then existential worries act like a catalyst for
making the human mind constantly move between the past, the present and the future.
‘The Third Level’ is a study of human mind caught in this cycle of time. When people
in the present time want to escape the problems and stress of life, they feel that life,
fifty or sixty years ago, was relaxed and they wanted to go back to that time for peace
and happiness.

Character Sketches
Charley
The protagonist of the story, Charley is a true representative of modem man. He is a
victim of stress, insecurity and fear and wants to run away from reality. He is an
escapist and wants to escape from the world of harsh realities. He is fond of stamp
collection, a hobby, which he takes up to make his leisure hours more productive and
fulfilling experience. But his psychiatrist friend calls it a temporary refuge from
reality. He yearns to lead a good simple life of his grandfather’s time, when things
were pretty nice and peaceful. He quests for the fabulous ordinariness of a bygone age
that was free from modern razzle-dazzle, sophistication and material comforts but
exudes peace and tranquillity. He wants to go to Galesburg, Illinois, in the year 1894
when the First World War was twenty years off and the Second World War still forty
years ahead. He is an imaginative person. Hence on the wings of his imagination, he
takes a flight to the non-existent world – the third level at Central Station. But after
finding it once, he and his wife fail to find it again. In short, Charley is the true
representative of the modern man who is torn between the pulls and pressures of a
hectic modem life and wants to escape since he is not happy.
Louisa
Louisa is Charley’s wife. She is loving and caring towards her husband. However, she
is a simple lady and it is not difficult to take her in. She refuses to accept the
psychiatrist’s observation that her husband is unhappy. She takes this comment as a
personal attack and feels ‘kind of mad’. On being told the modern world is full of
insecurity, fear, etc. she feels satisfied with the psychiatrist explanation. When Charley
talks to her about his predicament regarding the third level, she gets alarmed and
advises him not to look for the third level anymore. Her husband’s exchanging the
new currency with the old one is a cause of concern for her and she tells Charley
emphatically to stop looking for it. When Charley tells her about Sam’s disappearance,
she joins him in looking for the third level every weekend.
Sam
Sam is a psychiatrist by profession. He is a typical city boy. When Charley shares his
visiting the third level, he tells him it is a waking dream wish fulfilment. He tells him
that he is looking for ways to escape since he is not happy. But he immediately revises
his statement that Charley is a victim of insecurities of modern life. He dubs the
argument of narrator’s hobby of stamp collection as a temporary refuge from reality.
He does not believe in mixing up his profession with his friendship. He gets fascinated
by Charley’s description of Galesburg, Illinois, as a wonderful town with big old
frame houses, huge lawns, tremendous trees lining the streets. He is also affected by
the pulls and pressures of modern life that he thinks of escaping to the peaceful world
of Galesburg of 1894. In the end, he discovers the third level of Grand Central and
goes there. He writes a letter from there advising Charley and Louisa to keep finding
the third level because it is worth. According to Charley, Sam must have set up his
little hay feed and grain businesses as he can’t go back to his old business as
psychiatrists are redundant in Galesburg of 1894.
Description of the Third level
 Small room, few ticket windows and train gates, wooden and old looking
information booth.
 Men had beards, sideburns, fancy moustaches
 Women wore skirts, high buttoned shoes and leg of muttons sleeves.
 A man looking at a pocket watch
 Old style locomotive with the funnel-shaped stack
 Open gaslights being used
 Brass spittoons on the floor
 Wants to visit his home town, Galesburg
 Past is quiet and peaceful
 Tries to buy two tickets to Galesburg (one ticket for his Wife Louisa)
 Clerk grows suspicious as Charlie doesn’t have old-style currency.
 Back to the present-day world
People’s reaction to Charlie’s experience
 Presidents of NY railroads swear on the existence of two levels.
 Psychiatrist friend Sam refuses to believe
 Interprets it as an escape from insecurity, fear, war and worry of the modern world.
 Louisa too disbelieves Charlie
Charlie’s Determination to find the Third Level
 Withdraws money buys old currency worth 300 dollars.
 Fails to find the Third Level
 Louisa and Psychiatrist worried
 Unexpected Ending
 Sam disappears
 Charlie finds a first-day cover, never seen before
Note from Sam dated 18th July 1894 from Galesburg
 Sam asks Charlie and Louisa to come to Galesburg and enjoy a quiet and peaceful
life.
 Charlie discovers Sam had bought old currency worth 800 dollars
 Enough to help him start hay and grain business in 1894 at Galesburg
First Day Cover
 Stamp collectors buy stamps on the day of release.
 Mail the envelopes with blank paper in it with the postmark of the date to
themselves.  Covers remain unopened.
 Charley inherited stamp collection from his grandfather.
Question and Answers
1. What does the third level refer to?
A. Third level refers to an additional level at the Grand Central Station which
originally only had two levels. Charley one night while going home reached the third
level.
2. Would Charley ever go back to the ticket-counter on the third level to buy tickets to
Galesburg for himself and his wife?
A. Charley went looking back for the third level that could take him and his wife to
Galesburg because he wanted to go back to his past. He wanted to go back to the
world that has not seen two of its deadliest wars that changed everything.
3. Do you think that the third level was a medium of escape for Charley? Why?
A. Yes, the third level of the Grand Central Station was a medium of escape for
Charley. Modern world offers a lot of challenges and in order to take refuge from
reality, one might resort to escape. We all understand the miseries of the modern world
which is full of worry and pressure, thus, in order to take the burden away from his
shoulders and heave a sigh of relief, Charley resorted to escaping reality, although
unintentionally.
4. What do you infer from Sam’s letter to Charley?
A. The way Charley discovered Sam’s letter was rather peculiar. It was one of those
first-day covers people used to mail to themselves back in time with a blank page
inside. So to begin with, the cover had a letter in it and not a blank page in it.
Secondly, the letter dates back to 18 July, 1894 when Sam (the writer of the letter)
didn’t exist because both Sam and Charley exist in the present times.
5. ˜The modern world is full of insecurity, fear, war, worry and stress. What are the
ways in which we attempt to overcome them?
A. One cannot count on fingers the negative aspects the modern lifestyle has to offer.
There is stress, pressure, fear, insecurity and worry. In order to relieve oneself of all
these miseries, one can indulge in creative activities from time to time. Taking time
for yourself and what you love without worrying about a productive outcome is a
crucial thing many people tend to ignore in the hustle and bustle of daily lives. The
story offers escapism as a route to get away from the modern life.
6. Do you see an intersection of time and space in the story?
A. 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 exist 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 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
7. 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?
A. Philately does indeed help in keeping the treasures of past alive. It gives one a
chance to revisit and embrace the past of one’s existence. Some of the other ways in
which it can be done is by keeping a record of all the letters, ancient manuscripts,
things that are discontinued but were a significant part of the past, images, videos and
written records of experiences. Human beings are a collection of all the experiences
they have been through. Their tendency to connect with the past from time to time
helps them stay connected to the roots while helping them to face the present and
future challenges with more strength. Connecting with the future on the other hand, is
just as important to know the outcome of one’s current actions and decisions. If one
doesn’t seem satisfied with the realistic interpretation of future, it can certainly help in
altering current actions to direct towards a better future.