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The Third Level

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dushyantdalal671
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3 views

The Third Level

Uploaded by

dushyantdalal671
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

The Third Level

Page No: 1

Read and Find Out


1. What does the third level refer to?
Answer
The third level refers to the subway of the Grand Central Station that takes
passengers to Galesburg, Illinois. The third level on the station was a medium of
escape for Charley, the narrator from the harsh realities of modern life. It
provided him a base where he could interweave fantasy and reality.

Page No: 5

2. Would Charley ever go back to the ticket-counter on the third level to buy
tickets to Galesburg for himself and his wife?
Answer
No, Charley would never go back to the ticket-counter on the third level to buy
tickets to Galesburg for himself and his wife because third level was his
imagination.

Reading with Insight

1.Do you think that the third level was a medium of escape for Charley? Why?
Answer
Yes, I think that the third level was a medium of escape for Charley. Life in
modern world is full of insecurity, fear, war, worries and stress. Man has to
confront them all the times. The harsh realities of life make living quite
unpleasant and even unbearable. So he wants to escape into a wishful world.
Charley talks to his psychiatrist friend about the third level at the Grand Central
Station. His friend calls it “a waking-dream wish fulfillment”. Charley possesses
an escapist tendency. Even his stamp collecting is a ‘temporary refuge from
reality’.
2. What do you infer from Sam’s letter to Charley?
Answer
The way Charley came across Sam’s letter was surrounded in mystery. Among his
oldest first-day covers, he found an envelope. The envelope containing the letter
bore the address of his grandfather. It was written on July 18, 1894. The
postmark showed the Picture of President Garfield. Generally the first day covers
have blank papers in them, but this one contained a letter. The letter was
addressed to Charley. In the letter Sam had informed Charley that he was living
on the third level. He had also told Charley and his wife to keep looking for the
third level. Clearly, the letter was a product of Charley’s imagination.
3 . ‘The modern world is full of insecurity, fear, war, worry and stress.’ What are
the ways in which we attempt to overcome them?
Answer
We can overcome the anxieties and insecurities bred by our inevitable existence
in the modern world by getting involved in some practical and beneficial
activities. Cultivating hobbies, spending time with family and friends, going on
trips and excursions, pursuing meditation and exercises help us live a balanced
and healthy life. Reading good books is equivalent to having good friends with
great insight. They not only enrich us with the vast store of knowledge but also
help us to learn from other’s experience and stay rooted to some basic qualities
of humanity. Joining hobby classes or gym, attending social events like birthdays
and weddings, going for outdoor games, interacting meaningfully through social-
networking sites and writing diaries etc can also help us relieve our worries and
stay focussed and disciplined in life. Simple activities like listening to music,
playing with pets, an occasional dinner out, watching cinema or plays or going to
places like parks etc can go a long way in helping us get rid of stress, boredom
and insecurities.
4. Do you see an intersection of time and space in the story?
Answer
Yes, there are certain instances in the story that show an intersection of time and
space. Firstly, the first two levels of Grand Central Station were located in the
present time while the third level existed in the 1890s. Secondly, Charley and his
wife, Louisa, live in the present time yet he rushes to get old currency to buy two
tickets to go to the Galesburg of 1894. Further, the old architecture of the
platform at the third level is different from the modern platforms of the first two
levels. Besides, the archaic manner of dressing by the people, and the newspaper,
The World, dated June 11, 1984 also overlaps with Charley’s real time world and
existence. Lastly, the letter that was mailed to Charley’s grandfather on 18th July,
1894 highlights the intersection of time and space as the sender (Charley’s friend
Sam) and receiver (Charley himself) belong to the present time.

5. Apparent illogicality sometimes turns out to be a futuristic projection? Discuss.


Answer
It is true that apparent illogicality sometimes turns out to be a futuristic
projection. Before the Wright Brothers invented the first aeroplane, nobody could
have dared to believe that man could fly. Before Alexander Graham Bell invented
the telephone, it would have been impossible to believe in long-distance talks
happening in the real-time interface. Moreover, there are examples of inventions,
like that of inventing a modern-day sewing machine with a needle that has hole
on its wrong end, which were conceived in dreams but now are part of our
everyday reality. All this emphasises that fantasies of one point of time that seem
illogical may turn out to be revolutionary things that change the future of the
mankind. Similarly, it would not be far-fetched to think about railway stations
fitted with time-machine devices that would make travel from one era to another
just a matter of time.
6. 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?
Answer
Besides philately, there are numerous other ways to help keep the past alive.
Collecting historical artefacts, paintings and inscriptions in a museum, collecting
and reading books (including autobiographies, bio-sketches, letters and diary
entries) written in different eras, collecting and viewing documentaries and
other videos are all a few ways of revisiting history. Besides, we can keep our
culture and traditions alive when we follow the rituals in ceremonies, treasure
memories in the form of videos, photographs and audio collections. Also, reviving
old monuments, buildings and other artefacts may prove a huge learning
opportunity to those visiting such places, and promote tourism at the same time.
The capacity to oscillate between the past, present and future is a great
intellectual gift. This human tendency enables him to plan for the future in the
present by reaping benefits from the past. Consider a very simple example of
adopting a study technique for board exams. Considering the past result (of class
test or half yearly exams) a student makes a strategy plan to address the weak
areas more and score better in the future. Thus, such a tendency helps in
ensuring acceptance of the impact of important decisions taken at any point of
time and learning from them.

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