The Third Level Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type

Question 1.
What was the psychiatrist’s reaction when Charley told him about ‘The Third Level’?
Answer:
The psychiatrist told him that it was a walking-dream wish fulfillment. He also told
that Charley was unhappy.

Question 2.
What is the world filled up with?
Answer:
The world is filled up with insecurity, fear,war .worry and a lot of tensions. On the
other hand, there is joy, satisfaction, security and positivity in the world also.

Question 3.
What, according to the author is ‘Stamp Collecting ?
Answer:
According to the author, stamp collecting is a ‘temporary refuge from reality’. Its an
escapement from worldly worries.

Question 4.
What happened with Charley at Grand Central Station?
Answer:
At Grand Central Station, Charley entered into a subway to get the train to his home
but he was misdirected and entered into an another way that was, according to him
‘The Third Level’.

Question 5.
What did Charley find there?
Answer:
At the third level, Charley saw the people wearing old-fashiond dress, an old
locomotive, newspaper dated June 11, 1894, brass spittoons, flickering gas same lights
and many other things related to that century.

Question 6.
What do you understand by escapement?
Answer:
Escapement, in this sense means the saving of oneself from worldly worries like
insecurity, fear, war, worry and a lot.

Question 7.
I’ve taken the obvious step’. Explain.
Answer:
Nobody believed on Charley’s statement about ‘The Third Level’. His wife was
alarmed and brought him to the psychiatrist. Charley himself needed to meet the
psychiatrist. It was an ‘obvious step’.

Question 8.
What was Charley’s vision about Galesburg town?
Answer:
Charley thought that Galesburg was still a wonderful town. In that century in 1894,
people used to sit on their lawns, having sufficient time to talk to each other, smoking
cigars, women waving palm-leaf fans in very long summer evenings, overall, it was a
peaceful and friendly place.

Question 9.
Why did Charley return from the third level?
Answer:
With the wings of imagination, Charley returned to collect enough money to buy two
tickets to Galesburg town for himself and his wife Louisa. (As the clerk was not
accepting the currency which Charley was having related to the modem world.)

Question 10.
When and how did Charley find the letter of Sam?
Answer:
One night, while fussing with his stamp collection, Charley found, among his oldest
first-day covers, the letter of Sam with a six-cent stamp mailed to his Granddad earlier
into his collection.

Question 11.
How much old currency did Sam buy?
Answer:
Sam bought the old currency worth eight hundred dollars.

Question 12.
What business did Sam want to do?
Answer:
Sam wanted to do the business of hay, feed and grain.

Question 13.
What did the ticket clerk say to Charley?
Answer:
The ticket-clerk scolded Charley that that was not the real currency which he was
having. Additionally, he warned Charley that if he was trying to skin him, he would
not go very far. He would be prisoned.

Question 14.
‘But now we are both looking….’ What does this refer to? Explain.
Answer:
The above mentioned words were said by Charley as he and his wife Louisa, both
every weekend started to search the third level because they had the proof. Charleys
friend Sam was disappeared. So, they both Charley Louisa were looking for the third
level.

Question 15.
What does the third level refer to?
Answer:
The third level refers to the subway of the Grand Central Station in New York.
Though this ‘Third level’ was not present there physically, but Charley claimed it to
be present there.

Question 16.
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 he would never find that third level
again possibly.

Question 17.
Do you think that the third level was a medium of escape for Charley? Why?
Answer:
Yes, The third level was a medium of escape for Charley because he might be
unhappy and fearful form worldly worries. He explained that he meant the modern
world is full of insecurity, fear, war, worry and all the rest of it, and he just wanted to
escape from that and this happens when any person is unable to face and fight such
abstract aggressors.

Question 18.
What do you infer from Sam’s letter to Charley?
Answer:
Sam’s letter to Charley proves that Sam has found and reached to the third level. He is
staying there in Galesburg since last two weeks and watching various activities and
explains to Charley. He invites both Charley and his wife Louisa and motivates them .
to continue their search of the third level. So, we can say that Sam was also a victim of
worldly worries and seeking the escapement, like Charley.

Question 19.
“The modern world is full of insecurity, fear, war, worry and stress”. What are the
ways in which we attempt to overcome them?
Answer:
No doubt, the modern world is full of insecurity, fear,war worry and stress. And to
overcome them, people start to adopt their own ways. As some people start to imagine
and develop their own unreal world, whereas some people start to use alcoholic
products and destroy their lives. These all ways are just only escapement and not the
solution.
The Third Level Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type

Question 1.
Do you think that the third level was a medium of escape for Charley? Why?
Answer:
Actually, the third level did not exist at the Grand Central Station. It was confirmed by
the station master. Charley, during returning his home only imagined about the third
level to escape himself from the dissonant truth of this world. He often used to think
to move to Galesburg which existed in 1894. It was considered that the people at that
time were without worldly tensions.

He himself also wanted to reach there and imagined his presence in that century. Once
he returned to the real life but was continously thinking about that world. At the same
time, his friend Sam’s disappearance compelled him-fo believe about it and then again
he as well as his wife Louisa, both started to search the third level. In this way, we can
say that the third level was surely a medium of escapement for Charley. Though it was
an imagination, but gave him more satisfaction.

Question 2.
Why did Charley again wanted to go to the third level?
Answer:
As once Charley had visited the third level in his imaginations, he found and noticed a
big difference and as Galesburg was in his thought since starting to find the peace, he
became totally satisfied but after reaching to the ticket-window, he came to know that
he was unable to buy tickets or to do any trans¬action due to lack of the currency of
those days. He realised it and returned to the real life to buy some old time currency
from the exchange and than to return to the third level and Galesburg to stay there
permanently.

He, actually wanted to buy two tickets to Galesburg for himself and his wife as he was
sure that in Galesburg, people live without worldly worries and have enough time to
spend with each other. Things were also very cheap and with the money with him, he
would be able to survive there easily. So, Charley wanted to return to the third level
for his escapement and satisfaction, though the third level actually did not exist, it was
only his imagination.

Question 3.
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:
Philately Stamp collecting, the study of postage stamps, postal routes, postal history
etc. is a way adopted by many persons to keep the past alive in their minds. Except
this way, various other ways keep our past alive as through museums, historical
buildings & monuments, things used by the past persons, photographs, old books; we
travel into our past.
Its the common tendency of human beings to travel or to constantly move between the
past, the present and the future. Actually, we live in present but through the gift of
memory given by God, we go years back and through the power of imagination, we
try to step into future also. This shifting is controlled by our conscious and
unconscious both parts of mind and thus we find satisfaction and enjoy and survive in
this world in the present.

Question 4.
You have read ‘Adventure’ by Jayant Narlikar in Hombill Class XI. Compare the inter
weaving of fantasy and reality in the two stories.
Answer:
The lesson ‘Adventure’ written by ‘Jayant Narlikar’ describes about the past’s
happening and its major effect on history of the world. Professor Gaitonde made
transition from one world to another during his unique experience about battle of
Panipat and the professor went back to that time, supposing Maratha’s victory, thus he
experienced a different world.

In ‘the third level’, Charley and Sam both escaped from the present situations and
experienced a different world. Both the stories are the interweaving of fantasy and
reality, facing past and present experiences of the characters and define their mental
condition and imaginations.

Question 5.
Do you see an intersection of time and space in the story?
Answer:
Yes, an intersection of time and space is seen in the story. Charley, as an escapist
moves in past from present. He reaches in the last century in 1894, that is practically
impossible but due to his imagination he was shifted to the third level and found
himself at Galasburg, Illinois. That seems to be psychological and his psychiatrist
friend Sam is also the victim of modem worldly worries and he himself also shifts to
the third level. The author Jack Finney is a science fiction writer and presents the
intersection of time and space both in a very logical way and proves its possiblity due
to escapement.

Question 6.
Apparaut illogicaly sometimes turns out to be a futuristic projection? Discuss.
Answer:
Apparant illogicality sometimes turns out to be a futuristic projection as most of the
things we see around, once were in somebody’s thoughts and seemed to be
impossible, but later proved possible. Science has made it possible. Our unconcious
mind is responsible for such happenings.

With the combination of these, we sometimes able to invent or discover the amazing
things and facts that are totally unknown for the world till its physical appearance.
‘So, at its early stage, impossiblity arrives but soon, due to right projection, comes in
the view and startles the common mass.
Answer each of the following questions in about 30-40 words:

Question 1.
What does the third level refer to? What is the significance of the third level? (2001;
2004, Delhi)
Answer:
The third level is a medium of escape through which man yearns to be away from
life’s harsh realities. Modem life is devoid of peace and tranquility so man in his quest
to seek solace escapes to a place where his aim is to seek the realization of his dreams
and unfulfilled wishes of his subconscious mind.

Question 2.
What convinced Charley that he had reached the third level at Grand Central Station
and not the second level? (2010 Delhi)
Answer:
The general layout of the third level was different from that of the second level. It had
comparatively smaller rooms, fewer ticket windows and lesser train gates. The
infor¬mation booth in the centre was made of wood and looked old. The place with its
brass spittoons did not look very bright. So Charley was convinced it was not the
second level.

Question 3.
How does Charley, the narrator describe the third level at Grand Central Station?
(2013 Delhi)
Answer:
Charley says that the rooms on the third level were smaller than that of the second
level. There were fewer ticket windows and train gates and the information booth in
the centre was wood and old looking. There were open- flame gaslights and brass
spittoons on the floor. Everyone at the station was dressed in nineteenth century
dresses.

Question 4.
How did Charley make sure that he was not in the present time? (2002 Delhi)
Answer:
To make sure that he was not in the present time, Charley did a reality check. He
looked at the newspapers which were on sale at a kiosk and found a copy of the
newspaper ‘The World’, which carried the main story on President Cleveland. Then
he confirmed from the Public Library files that the newspaper he had seen was dated
11th June, 1894.

Question 5.
How did Charley often get lost on the Grand Central Station? (2010 Delhi)
Answer:
The Grand Central Station was growing like a tree pushing out endless corridors,
doorways and stairs like roots. It had intricate and tangled pathways. The network of
passages was so complicated that instead of reaching his destination, one did tend to
move up and down to look for entries and exits. So, Charley often got lost on this
station.

Question 6.
Why did Charley suspect that Sam had gone to Galesburg? (2011 Outside Delhi)
Answer:
When Sam disappeared all of a sudden and no one knew about his whereabouts,
Charley suspected he had gone to Galesburg as Sam was a city boy and liked
Galesburg very much. Then Charley found an envelope mailed to Sam by his
grandfather from his home in Galesburg and so it confirmed that Sam was indeed in
Galesburg.

Question 7.
How does Charley describe Galesburg as it used to be in 1894? (2013 Comptt.
Outside Delhi)
Answer:
Charley describes Galesburg as a quiet, simple and peaceful place with big old frame
houses, huge lawns and tremendous trees. The summer evenings were rather long and
people sat out on their lawns in a peaceful world, men smoking cigars and women
waving palm-leaf fans.

Question 8.
What did Charley learn about Sam from the stamp and coin store? (2012 Outside
Delhi)
Answer:
From the stamp and coin store Charley gets to know that Sam had bought old style
currency worth eight hundred dollars. This money was sufficient to set him up in a
little hay, feed and grain business in Galesburg.

Question 9.
How did Sam reach Galesburg? What did he advise Charley to do? (2012 Outside
Delhi)
Answer:
Sam was fascinated by Charley’s description of Galesburg. He was so burdened by the
tensions and stress of modem life that he thought of escaping to the peaceful world of
Galesburg. His advice to Charley is that, he (Charley) and his wife, Louisa should
come over to Galesburg through the medium of the ‘third level’.

Question 10.
Why did the booking clerk refuse to accept the money? (2010 Delhi)
Answer:
The booking clerk refuses to accept the money because the notes Charley had given
him were of old style. He did not pay in the currency notes that were in circulation in
1894. So the clerk stared at him and told him, “That ain’t money, Mister”. He thought
Charley was trying to cheat him and even threatened to get him arrested.
Question 11.
Why did Charley rush back from the third level? (2012 Outside Delhi)
Answer:
When Charley took out the modem currency to pay for the two tickets to Galesburg,
the ticket clerk accused him of trying to cheat him. He threatened to hand Charley
over to the police. Charley was frightened and he decided to rush back from the third
level, lest he was arrested and put into prison.

2. Answer each of the following questions in about 125-150 words.

Question 12.
How did Charley reach the third level of Grand Central? How was it different from
the other levels? (2009 Delhi; 2012 Comptt. Delhi)
Answer:
One night Charley worked till late at the office. Then he was in a hurry to get back to
his apartment. So he decided to take the subway from Grand Central. He went down
the steps and came to the first level. Then he walked down to the second level from
where the suburban trains left. He ducked into an arched doorway that headed to the
subway. Then he got lost. Knowing that he was going wrong he continued to walk
downward. The tunnel turned a sharp left and then taking a short flight of stairs he
came out on the third level at the Grand Central Station. Here he saw many unusual
things. There were very few ticket windows and train gates that were old-looking and
made of wood. Dim gaslights flickered and men wore derby hats and four-button
suits. It was a rather strange world of sideburns, beards and fancy moustaches.

Question 13.
Do you think that the third level was a medium of escape for Charley? Why? (2005;
2008 Delhi)
Answer:
The fears, anxieties and insecurities of the modem world are taking a toll on man’s
mind. He feels helpless and frustrated and seeks temporary respite from life’s harsh
realities. Charley too was unable to cope up with his fastpaced and stressful life so his
flight to the third level was undoubtedly a medium of escape for him. It is nothing but
a creation of Charley’s own mind. He wants to escape from the modern world’s
insecurity, fear, worries and stress and so seeks an exit, a medium to get away into the
world of dreams and fancies.

Question 14.
What made Charley believe that the was actually standing at the third level? (2010
Comptt. Delhi)
Answer:
One night Charley worked late at the office. He was in a hurry to get to his apartment.
So he decided to take the subway from Grand Central. He ducked into an arched
doorway and then he got lost. He walked down the steps to the second level, turned
left and kept on walking. He came out on the third level at the Grand Central Station.
This was a different, old and romantic world. So he was convinced that he was
actually standing at the third level. There were fewer ticket windows there which were
made of wood and were old-looking. There were open flame gaslights. He saw people
with beards, sideburns and fancy moustaches. Then he caught a glimpse of an old
locomotive and also saw an 1894 issue of ‘The World’ newspaper. Perhaps Charley is
under pressure to escape from the harsh world of realities. He would like to escape to
the peaceful world of 1894.

Question 15.
What kind of people did Charley ‘See’ at the third level? (2011 Outside Delhi, 2010
Comptt. Outside Delhi)
Answer:
Having worked late at the office Charley decided to take a train back home. So he
came to Grand Central Station and from the second level he got lost while ducking
into an arched doorway and found himself inside a tunnel. This tunnel took him to
another light of stairs and he found himself on the third level of the station. As
compared to the second level, the third level had smaller rooms, fewer ticket windows
and train gates. Everyone there was dressed in ‘eighteen-ninety-something’. Charley
came across men and women wearing 19th century dresses. Men sported fancy
moustaches, beards and sideburns. Tiny lapels, four-button suits, derby hats and
pocket gold watches seemed to be in vogue. Women were wearing fancy cut sleeves,
long skirts and high-buttoned shoes. Charley was confused to see people sporting old-
fashioned clothes and hair styles at the third level.

Question 16.
How does Charley make his description of the third level very realistic? (2013
Comptt. Delhi)
Answer:
To make his description of the third level very realistic, Charley describes its minute
details, vividly comparing it to the second level of the Grand Central station. He says
the rooms here were smaller. There were fewer ticket windows and train gates, and the
information booth was wooden and old-looking. He also gives a detailed description
about the people he saw at the third level and their dresses. He says the people wore
nineteenth century dresses; many men had beards, sideburns and fancy moustaches.
He also buys tickets to Galesburg, Illinois thus making the reader believe that he was
actually at the third level.

Question 17.
What is being inferred from Sam’s letter to Charley? (2003 Delhi)
Answer:
Sam’s letter to Charley is dated 18th July, 1894. It is written from Galesburg, Illinois.
In response to Charley’s claim of having visited the third level, Sam who is equally
insecure wishes the entire episode is true, as he too believes in the existence of the
third level. There are some inferences made by the letter. The introductory part of the
letter confirms Charley’s belief in the existence of the third level. It also suggests that
those who find the third level can travel across to Galesburg and enjoy the festivities,
songs, music and peaceful world of the 1890s. So the author uses Sam’s letter as a
unique combination of the real and fantasy world.

The Third Level – Important Questions

Important Question and Answers

Q. How many levels are there in the Grand Central Station? How did Charley
reach the third level of the Grand Central Station?

Ans. Grand Central Station, New York, has only two levels. One evening, Charley
reached the station and then walked down to the second level to catch an early train to
his home. While he was on the second level, he strangely happened to notice a
doorway down. He followed the steps and reached the third level which was never
heard or seen by anyone. In the third level Charley saw a hundred year old world and
people.

Q. What is the role of the stamp – collection in the story?

Ans. The stamps collection is the logic behind the story. It was Charley’s favourite
pastime. In fact, this collection was passed on to Charley from his diseased
grandfather. The most important fact about his collection is that this was the only
thing that connected the old world and the new: the same thing but existing in two
different worlds. This collection turned out to be useful for Sam, the psychiatrist
friend when he attempted to convey to Charley the truth regarding the existence of the
third level. It was by keeping his first day cover in Charley’s grandfather’s collection
that Sam could make the same available to Charley.

Q. How did Charley ascertain that he had reached the 1894 world?

Ans. The World was a popular newspaper which stopped its publication before 1894.
Having reached the third level of the Grand Central Station, Charley noticed that The
World and the date, June 11, 1894 and confirmed that he was back in 1894. In the
beginning, when he reached the third level, Charley was confused. Whatever he saw
in the third level told him that he had travelled back to the past. This was confirmed
when he saw The World. The lead story said something about President Cleveland and
it was printed June 11, 1894.

Q. Why did Charley run away from the third level?

Ans. Charley was greatly amazed when he reached the hundred year old third level
and was planning to buy two rail tickets to Galesburg where he had spent his
childhood. But when he took out his money to pay the fare, the clerk found out that
his notes were fake and thought that Charley was attempting to fool him. He warned
him that he would call the police. Seeing that there was nothing good about police and
jail in the hundred year old Galeburg, Charley ran away.
Q. What was Sam’s answer to Charley’s dilemma?

Ans.

Charley met his psychiatrist friend Sam and told him about this experience. The
psychiatrist interpreted it as a mental disorder. Indicating his hobby of stamp
collection and this sort of experience, the psychiatrist explained his abnormality to be
escaping from the struggles of life by fantasizing. Soon his friends and wife began to
consider Charley as a mental patient. But how! Charley was not abnormal. He was a
happy man who loved his wife and friends and stamps. But the rest of the world
believed that Charley was looking for an exit to escape his reality.

Q. Why was Charley not able to get to Galesburg?

Ans. Next day Charley went to a particular shop that sold old currency. He paid more
for less old money and ran to the railway station. He hoped to buy train tickets this
time to go to his old village. He reached the first level, went down to the second and
searched for the door to the third level. Alas! The door had vanished. He searched and
searched but could not find it again.

Q. How did Sam reach Galesburg? How did he settle down there?

Ans. Sam was smarter than Charley. From Charley’s experience, he learnt that one
can get into the third level only once. He also believed that once out of the third level,
one could never get back. Keeping this in mind, Sam first got old currency from the
shop and then went to the railway station. He found the door to the third level as
claimed by Charley, purchased ticket and reached the 1894 Galesburg, Charley’s
village. Having reached there, Sam settled himself in hay business.

Q. How did Sam’s mail reach Charley?

Ans. When Sam reached the third level and landed in Galesburg, he became part of a
hundred year old world, the year 1894 a world devoid of the modern media of
communication. He had to depend only on postal system but there was no link
between his old world and Charley’s present world. In order to send a mail to Charley,
Sam sent it to Charley’s grandfather who still existed in the third level and the
grandfather kept the mail in his stamp collection and consequently Charley received
the mail.

Q. What was Charley’s strange experience at the Grand Central Station?

Ans. One night, while in a hurry to catch a subway train from the Grand Central
Station, Charley took a path, which led him to the third level of Grand Central Station.
On arriving here, he encountered something, which appeared outright strange to him.
The information booth was made of wood, the lights were open flame gaslight and
therefore dim. There where old fashioned railway engines, men and women in old
fashioned clothes, carrying old fashioned accessories, such as the gold pocket watch.
There were brass spittoons on the floors. By now Charley had an inkling that the path
had brought him to the past. In order to confirm his doubt he decided to check the
newspaper. The newspaper was ‘The world’ and the date on it read June, 11, 1894.
Publication of the same had been stopped hundred years ago. When Charley went to
buy two tickets to Galesberg, Illinois, the clerk refused to sell him tickets because he
did not recognise the new currency, which Charley was offering.

Q. Do you think Charley was really a worried man as his psychiatrist friend and
others believed?

Ans. No, Charley was a happy man. Even though the modern man is generally
unhappy and worried, Charley appears to be quite a normal man. The day when he
found out the third level, Charley was in a hurry to reach home, to meet his wife. A
man who longs to get home and happy with his wife is a happy man. Moreover,
Charley had a good collection of stamps which he enjoyed in his free time. Yes,
Charley seems to be a worried man, an escapist and a maniac dreamer also. Charley
belonged to the post World War time, 1984 and anxiety and insecurity were a part of
everyone’s psyche. Everyone wanted to escape to a peaceful place but there was
probably none. Charley, being a similar escapist, found peace by escaping into his
world of stamps and unknown places in his imagination.