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The Third Level Extra Long Questions

The Third Level Extra Long Questions – Looking for Long Question Answers from “The Third Level” (Chapter 1 of Class 12 English Vistas) for your CBSE exam? Our NCERT solutions are tailored to enhance your understanding and boost your board exam performance. Practice these Extra Long Questions Answers to improve your writing skills and maximize your score. Dive in now to master “The Third Level”!

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The Third Level Extra Long Questions

1. Describe briefly the scene at the third level of Grand Central as seen (or seemed to be seen) by Charley.

Answer: Charley had a strange experience when he was at the third level of Grand Central. He kept walking in the quiet corridor, angling left and slanting downward, till he reached an architecturally old station that was completely different from the two familiar levels. The antiquated small room with fewer ticket counters and train gates, a wooden information booth, flickering open flame gas lights and brass spittoons remind him of the architecture of the 1800s. He also found that people were dressed in outmoded outfits. He noticed that the date on The World was printed June 11, 1894. As he tendered money to the clerk at the counter to buy two tickets, one for his wife and one for himself, the ticket counter clerk doubted him and his currency notes. He realised that he needed to have old currency bills to do so. Though it was difficult for him to believe in what was going on, but had no other choice but to believe in it. Finally Charley ran away, got out of the third level stage, returned to the present world and got back to his home.

2. Describe the third level as a science fantasy.

Answer: Science makes the impossible possible by giving a touch of realism to things that simply cannot happen in the real world under any circumstances. It explains a person’s perceptions, his difficulties and circumstances. Science fantasy has an aura of magic. In the lesson ‘The Third Level’ Charley’s fantasies are magical. He travels through time to Galesburg of 1894, the world of his childhood. He is stressed out by his modern living and takes refuge in his nostalgic memories, and at times he loses touch with reality. Such time travel is an essential element of all scientific fantasy.

3. Finney manages to not only capture the reader’s imagination, but also provides a clear example of time travel that does not confuse the reader. Discuss.

Answer: ‘The Third Level’ is a well-defined and convincing description of time travel. It can be divided into modern world and the world of the 1890s, the world of Grand Central Station of New York and the past world of Galesburg, Illinois. The narrator talks of the present world of 21st century through the references of New York Central, New York, New Haven, Hartford of Galesburg, Illinois of the 1890s in clearer terms. His visit to the third level of Grand Central and the physical description of this symbolize a flashback of the 19th century. So, the writer takes the reader in both the eras with care without confusing them. Thus, the third level is a beautiful interpretation of things through what, we call ‘the catastrophe theory’ as given in ‘The Adventure’ by Jayant Narlikar.

The Third Level Extra Long Questions

4. Do you think that the third level was a medium of escape for Charley? Why?

Answer: The torture of stress, sense of insecurity and fear have made man an escapist who wants to run away from reality. He looks for a temporary refuge and starts pursuing different hobbies to divert his attention temporarily and give himself some comfort. The fast pace life has made Charley uneasy and restless. He yearned for peace and tranquillity. He turned to philately but could not find much relief. His efforts for escape resulted in his flight to the third level-a level of existence which he associated with tranquillity. His psychiatrist friend Sam, diagnosed Charley’s claim as a waking dream wish fulfilment. Hence, the third level undoubtedly is a medium of escape for Charley.

5. What do you infer from Sam’s letter to Charley?

Answer: Sam’s letter is a proof of his having reached the third level and of having been transported to Galesburg of 1894. The date 18th July 1894 and the content of the letter indicate that he too yearned for such an escape. Being equally insecure, he started believing in the existence of the third level and eventually found it. Galesburg always fascinated him with ample leisure and innocent happiness. He suggested to Charley and Louisa to keep on looking for it till they come across it. Sam’s letter also indicates the social life of Galesburg where people loved music, dance and socializing. But we are not sure that Sam’s letter is a mere figment of Charley’s imagination just like the third level or has he really transported to Galesburg of 1894. So, the whole idea of travel in time and multiple levels of reality is mind-boggling and so is Sam’s letter indeed.

The Third Level Extra Long Questions

6. The modern world is full of insecurity, fear, war, worry, tension and stress. What are the ways in which we attempt to overcome them?

Answer: There is no doubt that the modern world is full of insecurity, fear, war, worry, tension, stress, anxiety and what not. Strangely, there is no escape from these things, yet people devise, find and invest different ways to escape from them. Some like liquor, some tranquillizers, some sleeping pills, some consult saints or seers or psychiatrists. Some daydream or listen to music or visit night parties or browse the Internet and fall down to tiredness and sleep. They awake to another day of tension and anxiety. People like the narrator invent an imaginary world around them and get lost in it for the time being.

But such a life is not for all the persons. It is for those who are a sensitive mind and look at life in a thoughtful manner, albeit, very seriously.

7. Did Sam really go to Galesburg or was it Charley’s figment of imagination?

Answer: The third level at the Grand Central symbolizes man’s yearning to attain an ideal level of existence which is free from wars, worries, insecurities, tensions and a level which exudes calm, peace and tranquillity. Charley imagined this world briefly but could never get back to that world. His craving for such a world forced him to imagine things. He imagined that his psychiatrist friend, Sam, had succeeded in reaching there. He even saw a letter from Sam in his first-day cover collection. It was dated July 18, 1894 and posted to his grandfather’s address in Galesburg, Illinois. After this he redoubled his efforts to search the third level.

If it is only the imagination of Charley, then how do you explain Sam’s exchanging of currency at the coin shop? The fact that Sam too lived in a world of fantasy makes us understand that time travel was one way of escape for the modern man.

8. Discuss the importance of Sam’s letter to Charley.

Answer: Charley, the protagonist of the story, gives up hope of ever finding the third level again and resumes his hobby of collecting stamps. It is then that he comes across the first-day cover which he had not seen before and did not know anything about. It carried the stamp of July 18, 1894, and had been posted from Galesburg, Illinois. As he reads the content of the letter, a shocked Charley realises that it was from Sam, his psychiatrist friend. Though he had earlier hoped that the third level existed, now he had actually found it and been there for two weeks. Very different from the modern world full of stress, worry and insecurities, Sam describes it as a peaceful place full of warm and friendly people and an old-world charm. He urges Charley and Louisa not to stop their search or give up, till they find the third level. Thus, Sam reaffirms Charley’s conviction about the existence of the third level.

The Third Level Extra Long Questions

9. ‘The Third Level’ explores an intersection of time and space. Discuss.

Answer: In ‘The Third Level’, Jack Finney gives ‘time travel’ a new dimension through his protagonist, Charley. The third level is the point where the past and the present meet. One evening, on his way back from work, Charley finds himself in the third level of the Grand Central Station in New York. He discovers that things were different and realises that he is back in 1894. It was the period that Charley would love to be in. An excited Charley wants to buy two tickets to Galesburg, a peaceful town in the pre-war period, which Sam, Charley’s psychiatrist friend, interprets as his desire to escape from the it for stress 1894 of currency. modern living. He thus, Later, is able Sam to himself cross time withdraws and reach all his a quiet savings and and peaceful exchanges past where his services as a psychiatrist would not be required. Louisa believes that one can cross the time dimension only after Sam’s letter of affirmation. Thus, we can see some characters transcend through space and time in their own way.

10. Charley wanted to go home quickly but he reached the third level. How did he get there?

Answer: One summer night, Charley worked till late at the office. As he wanted to get home quickly, he decided to take the subway from Grand Central. He went into the Grand Central and went down the steps of the first level. Then he went down another flight of stairs to reach the second level. He found an arched doorway and was lost in the corridor until he reached a point where it was slanted downwards. He thought it to be wrong. But he continued walking. He found nobody on the way. From there, the tunnel took a sharp turn to the left. He went down a short flight of stairs. For a moment he perceived, he had once again come back to the second level. However, everything there was different and old-fashioned. There were fewer ticket windows. The information booth in the centre was made of wood and looked very old. It was then he realised suddenly that he had reached the third level.

11. What did the narrator see unusual at the third level? What was the third level like? How did Charley know he had bumped into the past?

Answer: The third level appeared to be a railway station from about a century ago. The rooms were smaller and ticket windows were few. The information booth in the centre was of wood and looked old-fashioned. The man in the booth wore sleeve protectors and a green eyeshade. Lights were flickering as they were open-flame gaslights. Brass spittoons were found on the floor. Most people bore beards and side burns and fancy moustaches. Charley also saw a man who had a gold watch. People around the station were dressed (2010)as eighteen-ninety-something which further deepened Charley’s suspicion. Later, he noticed that the locomotive was small with a funnel-shaped stack. A newsboy had stack of The World. It was published on June 11, 1894. It made Charley sure that he had bumped into the past.