THE THIRD LEVEL

The Third Level by Jack Finney is a futuristic projection of time travel and space travel. Another important
theme this short story explores is the theme of escapism - 'a temporary refuge' from the stress of living in the
modern world. Daydreams, fantasies, and hobbies offer a brief respite from the hectic routines of everyday life.
The short story, The Third level explores the ideas of time travel, space travel and the role of pastimes or
hobbies. The author deliberately leaves the interpretation of the story open-ended.

1. The Third Level also refers both to an intersection in time and space and for that matter, an escape
mechanism that helps us escape the harsh realities of the world for a brief time. Jack Finey has deliberately left
the interpretation open-ended in order to convey a sense of randomness in a world that seems to be so well
ordered! The idea of randomness is best expressed by Jayant Narlikar in the short story The Adventure as,
a "lack of determinism in quantum theory", or when an electron makes a "jump from high to low energy".

2. The tree with roots is like a tunnel, a passageway, a portal, a wormhole, that helps you travel in space. It is
like a tesseract, a means for travelling large distances in a split second.
3. The stamp collection is a medium with the help of which one can visit the past through the stamps. It is like
a time machine that helps you see how things were in the past. It connects the present with the past and future.
The stamp collection is like a portal or intersection (like the third level) that helps you travel back and forth in
time. Like a photograph, stamps have captured a slice of time, a moment in history. They are important capsules
of time.

4. The Galesburg in the year 1894 is rather like the ideal world to live in. It is a Utopian world where everyone
has a rather laid-back, carefree life. Remember that the First World War is yet to happen. It is a world without
stress, a world where there is so much leisure. In fact it is because of this reason that Sam Weiner decides to
wind up his dispensary and instead set up a hay and animal feed business in Galesburg in the year 1894.

Is the third level a medium of escape for Charley?

From a psychological point of view, the third level was a medium of escape for Charley. According to Sam his
psychiatrist friend, "it was a waking-dream wish fulfilment." He believed that Charlie wanted to escape from a
modern world "full of insecurity, fear, war worry" however briefly! Sam adds that Charley's hobby of stamp-
collecting offered him a "temporary refuge from reality." In the lesson Going Places, a similar thing happens
when Sue resorts to fantasizing about meeting Danny Casey as a means of escaping from a life that she thinks is
too limited for her aspirations beyond the biscuit factory. For Sue, however, fantasizing had taken up
pathological proportions.
Charley was not able to escape to Galesburg, Illinois in the year 1894 because he did not have old currency
notes to buy two tickets for the train journey and when he returned to the Grand Central Station, he would never
find the corridor that led to the third level. On the other hand, his psychiatrist friend, Sam Weiner was able to
escape in time and space as is evident from the letter posted by him to his grandfather. The letter was posted to
Charley's grandfather and this is because once Sam had reached Galesburg in the year 1894, he could only post
the letter to Sam's Grandfather in the same year, same time zone.
Clearly, therefore, the third level could at the most afford Charley a temporary peek into the past, to a railway
station in the year 1894 as is evidenced by the date on the World newspaper. He had to beat a hasty retreat from
that railway station before the ticket seller, the clerk raised a hue and cry about him thinking that he was trying
to "skin" him with his fancy cash!

What does the third level refer to?

Taken literally, the third level refers to the third floor at the Grand Central Railway station. Symbolically,
however, it refers to some kind of a portal that can help one travel back in time, (in this case, 1894) and it can
teleport the person to Galesburg, thus helping the person to travel some distance, (which is equivalent to
travelling in space). At a psychological level, the third level is an imaginary dream, a "waking dream" that
afforded him an escape from the insecurity and stress of everyday life. There are therefore three different
aspects to the third level.

The first interpretation is supported by Charley's description of how once while going back home, he turned into
Grand Central from Vanderbilt Avenue, went down the steps to the second level, walked down another flight of
stairs, ducked into an arched doorway and got lost. He ended up in the lobby of the Roosevelt Hotel. The second
time he entered a corridor and stepped into a tunnel ending up in an office building on 46th street. The third time
he ended up in a railway station on the third level in the year 1894! The third level was thus an intersection in
time and space.

An interesting Science fiction interpretation is that the third level is a portal, an exit into another town and
another town. Charley ended up in a railway station in 1894. Sam, his psychiatrist friend was able to travel, from
the third level to Galesburg in 1894. To quote from Sam's letter, "I got to wishing that you were right. Then I got
to believing you were right. And, Charley, it's true; I found the third level! I've been here two weeks, and right
now, down the street at the Daly's someone is playing a piano". The address on the letter reads, "941 Willard
Street, Galesburg, Illinois", and the date is, "July 18, 1894". The symbol of the "tree, pushing out new corridors
and staircases like roots," suggests a highway, a portal into space (place) and time. The multiple corridors take
you to different time zones and different places.
The third explanation is that the third level is a mere figment of the imagination. Charley was "unhappy"
probably stressed out from work so he decided to escape into a fantasy world. It was a "temporary refuge" from
the real world. It was an escape mechanism built by the brain to give the mind some rest. So, one might argue
that the third level was nothing but a daydream, fantasy or something imagined on the spur of the moment.

How do people attempt to overcome the insecurity, fear, war, worry and stress of the modern world?

 According to Sam, the psychiatrist in The Third level, people attempt to escape from the stress and worries of
the modern world through fantasizing, daydreaming and taking up hobbies like stamp collecting. He believes
that waking dream wish fulfilment is about escape. Charley liked to think about Galesburg as a "wonderful town
still with big old frame houses, huge lawns, and tremendous trees whose branches meet overhead and roof the
streets. And in 1894, summer evenings were twice as long, and people sat out on their lawns...a peaceful world"
a wistful memory, a fantasy of a time long gone by. Charley was obsessed with the Galesburg of 1894,
something that, according to Sam was an escape from the world of stress and worry. What he had experienced,
according to Sam the psychiatrist was a waking dream wish fulfilment in which he lived his fantasy of travelling
back in time when people were more relaxed and laid back, things were more peaceful and the air was fresher.
However, one should note that by the end of the story, Sam the Cynic, the non-believer, himself ends up
travelling to Galesburg in the year 1894! What greater comment can Jack Finney make about not believing the
implausible!
People take up hobbies as an attempt to escape and overcome the insecurity, fear, worry and stress of life in the
modern world. To quote from the lesson, "My stamp-collecting, for example; that's a 'temporary refuge from
reality.' " However, Charley doesn't agree with this point of view since he believes that his grandfather "didn't
need any refuge from reality; things were pretty nice and peaceful in his day."
Taking up hobbies, sports, adventure activities do have benefits. They provide us with a much-needed break
from hectic work schedules. Pastimes help divert the mind from work and provide a moment for the brain to
cope with mental fatigue. Hobbies provide people with coping strategies. Hobbies like stamp-collecting
(Philately) and coin-collecting (Numismatics) help keep the past alive. They help enthusiasts meet each other,
and widen their social circles.

Hobbies like Stamp-collecting and Coin collecting have advantages. Even President Roosevelt collected
stamps.

Philately and Numismatics have great advantages for enthusiasts. They help people travel back and forth in time
between the past, the present and the future. Old coins and stamps take you back in time. One learns a lot about
the past through them, like social conditions, the rulers who ruled in those times, you learn about the economics
of those time, geography, ecology and so forth. Stamps and coins of the present times can form a reference point
to make projections about the future and they help you compare the present with the past. The use of silver and
gold in the coins of the past followed by alloys in the present time tell you a lot about the shift in the economy.
Charley was able to connect to his past, more specifically to his grandfather through the stamp collection that he
had inherited from his grandfather. The stamps that his grandfather had collected were in a way like a time
capsule. Moreover, Charley's connection to Galesburg was through his stamp collection. It is pertinent to note
that he discovered Sam's note inside a first-day cover envelope addressed to his grandfather who had lived in
Galesburg. Charley's stamp album helped him connect to the past. It was a means of travelling in time.

Apparent illogicality sometimes turns out to be a futuristic projection!

The submarine was a futuristic projection about underwater travel. Jules Verne's description of the Nautilus
would have been an illogical concept in the times when Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea was
published. H.G. Wells description of space Travel to the moon must have seemed implausible in the time when
his book was published. The steam engine did not pop out of the drawing board, it was dreamt! In all these
cases, illogicality turned out to be futuristic projections of discoveries and inventions that have become rather
commonplace today.
Looking at the above examples as a basis for futuristic projections of the world, would it not be correct to
assume that time travel and space travel (teleportation) might not become realities of the future? Films like Back
to the Future, Inception and Interstellar, predict what might one day become a reality. Jayant Narlikar writes
about travel between multiple dimensions both in space and time in the grade eleven lesson The Adventure.
Quantum physics describes the world through Quantum theory as a world based on the randomness of things.
Professor Gaitonde had travelled back in time and space after his collision with a truck.
The very concept of reality is challenged by Quantum theory. Professor Gaitonde was able to make a transition;
he was able to experience two worlds. Charley was able to experience (theoretically at least) time travel for a
short while. Sam, the cynical psychiatrist was able to travel back in time and space permanently at least!

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

At a symbolic level, Sam had managed to find 'the corridor that leads to the third level at Grand Central Station'
and travelled back in time to Galesburg in the year 1894.
That he had travelled in time and space is evident from his letter to Charley. According to him,' it's true; I found
the third level!' Sam goes on to describe life in Galesburg in the year 1894 and he encourages both Charley and
Louisa to 'Keep looking' for the third level.
The final proof that Sam had travelled back in time and space is also evident from the way the letter ends up in
Charley's stamp collection. Another important proof is the address and the date in Sam's letter 941, Willard
Street, Galesburg, Illinois, July 18, 1894.