Class 12 English — Chapter 1: The Third Level

What you'll learn

• ▸The Third Level as a Symbolic Space
• ▸Theme of Escapism and Nostalgia
• ▸Character Analysis of Charley
• ▸Intersection of Time, Space, and Reality
• ▸Symbolism of Galesburg, 1894
• ▸The Role of Sam Weiner, the Psychiatrist
• ▸The First-Day Cover as a Plot Device

Chapter Summary

--- PAGE 1 --- 12075CH01 The Third Level Jack Finney Before you read Have you ever had any curious experience which others find hard to believe? THE presidents of the New York Central and the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroads will swear on a stack of timetables that there are only two. But I say there are three, because I've been on the third level of the Grand Central Station. Yes, I've taken the obvious step: I talked to a psychiatrist friend of mine, among others. I told him about the third level at Grand Central Station, and he said it was a waking-dream wish fulfillment. He said I was unhappy. That made my wife kind of mad, but he explained that he meant the modern world is full of insecurity, fear, war, worry and all the rest of it, and that I just want to escape. Well, who doesn't? Everybody I know wants to escape, but they don't wander down into any third level at Grand Central Station. Read …

Practice Questions from this Chapter

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1. Discover Grand Central's hidden history? Get Solution →
2. Imagine living in a past era? Get Solution →
3. Explain theories of time travel simply. Get Solution →
4. According to the narrator, Charley, how many levels are there at Grand Central Station? Get Solution →
5. What is the narrator's hobby which his psychiatrist calls a 'temporary refuge from reality'? Get Solution →
6. What is the name of the narrator's wife? Get Solution →
7. In what year does the narrator find himself after reaching the third level? Get Solution →
8. What was the name of the newspaper Charley saw on the third level? Get Solution →

Did you know?

• 💡 Humans used sundials for thousands of years before mechanical clocks existed.
• 💡 Grand Central Terminal was built over a hundred years ago, replacing an earlier station.
• 💡 The first subway systems used steam locomotives, not clean electric trains.
• 💡 Gaslights illuminated city streets and homes before widespread electric lighting arrived.
• 💡 US paper money was once much larger than the standard bills used today.

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