Here are the answers to your questions about "The Third Level" by Jack Finney: 1. Jack Finney 2. John Finney 3. Not applicable, his given name was John Finney 4. Science fiction and thrillers 5. A pleasant wish or fantasy that allows one to temporarily escape from or forget the pressures and unhappiness of reality 6. Human tendency for escapism due to the harsh realities of the present 7. In a serious manner 8. A human tendency to escape from the harsh realities of the present to past happy times 9. Charles' finding of the Third Level and wish to visit Galesburg, Illinois represented an escapist fantasy 10. Louisa

1. THE THIRD LEVEL
by Jack Finney
Currency Verma
12th H

3. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Walter Braden
"Jack" Finney (born
John Finney; October 2, 1911
– November 14, 1995) was an
American author. His best-
known works are science
fiction and thrillers, including
The Body Snatchers and Time
and Again. The former was the
basis for the 1956 film
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
and its remakes.

5. The Third Level by Jack Finney is about the
harsh realities of war. War has irreversible
consequences thus leaving people in a state of
insecurity. It is also about modern day
problems and how common man tends to
escape reality by various means. In this story,
a man named Charley hallucinates and
reaches the third level of the Grand Central
Station which only has two levels.

7. The Third Level Theme
The story, ‘The Third Level’ clearly explores the science fiction genre of ‘time travel’. Jack Finney,
the recipient of the World Fantasy Award, interweaves fantasy with reality in his projection of time
travel. Charley, the protagonist wishes to be transported to the third level, the world of Galesburg,
Illinois, 1894, which is supposed to be a much happier and quieter place to be in.
The story also dwells on the theme of escapism as a psychological refuge from the grim realities of
the present day world along with a desire to stay with the past—a desire that Charley’s wife Louisa
does not contest. Sam has also happily escaped, with no desire to return to his old profession.
The story exposes the vulnerable side of the common man. Surrounded by myriad problems, we
humans, sometimes experience a craving for peace and serenity, and look for possible escapes.
This story is about time intersection, an illusion, a kind of long dream that we do not experience
during our sleep.

8. The story revolves around a 31 year old man named Charley,
who experienced something weird. One day after work coming
from the Subway, he reached the third level of the Grand
Central station (which doesn't actually exist). He reminisces
the entire experience with his psychiatrist friend Sam.
Charley thought he experienced time travel and had reached
somewhere in the eighteen-nineties, a time before the world
saw two of its most deadliest wars. As soon as he realized
what time he is in, he immediately decided to buy two tickets
to Galesburg, Illinois; one for himself and the other for his
wife. Unfortunately, the currency used in that century was
different. Thus, the next day he withdrew all his savings and
got them converted even if it meant bearing losses. He went
looking for the third level but failed to find it. It worried his
wife and the psychiatrist Sam who told him that he is
hallucinating in order to take refuge from reality and miseries
of the modern world which is full of worry. Charley thus
resorts to his stamp collection in order to distract himself
when suddenly one day he finds a letter from his friend Sam
who had gone missing recently. Sam wrote that he always
wanted to believe in the idea of third level and now that he is
there himself, he encourages Charley and Louisa to never stop

10. Charley
Charley is a thirty-one year old man in a tan gabardine suit and a straw hat. One night, on his way back from work, he decides to take
the subway at the Grand Central Station, which as everyone knows, has two levels. Preoccupied and in a hurry, Charley discovers an
unknown exit that takes him through a long corridor, into the third level.
Here, there were fewer ticket windows, the man at the booth wore green eye-shades, the lights were open-flame gas lights, and
women wore old-fashioned, fully covered dresses. The newspaper, ‘The World’, was dated June 11,1894. Charley knows that from
there, the third level of the Grand Central, he could go to anywhere in the United States, 1984. He decides to buy two tickets to
Galesburg, Illinois, for his wife Louisa and himself from the ticket window in the third level.
Galesburg, with its big old houses, huge lawns and tremendous trees represents an idyllic world to Charley, with the World War II still
forty years into the future. However, the clerk at the window refuses the currency Charley offers. Charley leaves, deciding to return
the next day, after converting all his savings into old-style currency. But Charley has never again found the third level.
When Charley tells his psychiatrist friend, Sam Weiner about this, Sam tells him that it was “a waking dream wish fulfillment” as
Charley was “unhappy” in the modern world with its insecurities and fears, and just wanted to escape. Charley never again found the
corridor that led to the third level at the Grand Central. Ironically, his friend Sam, the psychiatrist, disappeared, only to reach
Galesburg, Illinois, in 1894.

11. Sam
Sam Weiner is Charley’s friend, and psychiatrist,
and the next most important character in the story.
He concludes that the third level is a figment of
Charley’s imagination, induced by the pressures of
modern living.
When Charley fails to find the third level of the
Grand Central Station, his wife Louisa is worried for
him and tells him to stop looking for it. But after
sometime, both start looking for it because they
find proof that the third level exists. Charley’s
friend, Sam Weiner disappears. A first-day cover
that Charley discovers in his collection, is signed by
Sam and is from Galesburg, Illinois, dated July
18,1894. Charley subsequently discovers that Sam
had bought eight- hundred dollars worth of old-
style currency and moved to Galesburg, Illinois, in
1894. He had . set up a hay, feed and grain business
as he had always said that it is what he really
wished to do. Clearly, he could not go back to his
old business—psychiatry—in Galesburg, Illinois, in
1894.

12. Louisa
Charley’s wife Louisa was initially angry with
Sam’s suggestion that Charley was unhappy, ‘
when Charley tells him about his sojourn to the
third level of the Grand Central Station in New
York. Then Sam explains that it is not marital
unhappiness, but dissatisfaction and discontent
with modern day living with its insecurity, fear,
war and worry. To escape from these pressures,
Charley’s mind had sought refuge in the idyllic
world of the third level. Louisa’s conviction in the
existence of the third level is affirmed only when
she sees the note sent by Sam himself, from
Galesburg, Illinois, dated July 18, 1894. Since
then, Louisa has been actively involved in looking
for the third level, along with her husband,
Charley.

13. • The Third Level”, written by Jack Finney blends fiction with reality. It is also
about a man’s wish to escape from the harsh realities of present life. Charley,
though he does not admit it, wants to go into the past as he is unhappy. He is
unhappy with his wife. In fact, he is as unhappy as he finds the world in which
he lives full of hurry, tension and war. His psychiatrist friend, Sam tells his
stamp collecting also as an escape into the past.
• There were only two levels at Grand Central Station. However, Charley found a
third one. It was by chance. Many a times, he was lost there. He was always
discovering new doorways, new corridors and new tunnels. He had begun to
think that the Grand Central was always pushing out tunnels and new
corridors like roots of a huge tree.
• There he lost his way and found himself on the third level. This level was
entirely different and old-fashioned. The locomotive, the brass spittoons and
the naked gaslights belonged to the previous century. He desired to escape to
Galesburg, the town of his dreams. However, he was nearly arrested. The
money he gave to pay the fare was different from that in use those days. The
booking clerk thought that he was cheating. Charley, thus, ran into the
present. He never found the third level again. However, his psychiatrist friend,
who did not believe that the third level existed, found it and escaped to
Galesburg of 1894.

17. Question 1. Why did Charley meet a psychiatrist?
Answer:
Charley met a psychiatrist, since he was in a dilemma. He felt sure
that he had been on the third level of the Grand Central Station,
which everyone knows has only two levels. Even the Presidents of
the railroads would swear on a stack of timetables that there were
only two levels.
Question 2. What was the psychiatrist’s diagnosis?
Answer:
The psychiatrist said that Charlie was unhappy. The modern world,
full of insecurity, fear, war and worry oppressed him, and he just
wanted to escape.

18. Question 3. What proof did the psychiatrist provide?
Answer:
Charley’s psychiatrist and his friends said that his stamp-collecting was an
indication of his desire to seek “a temporary refuge from reality”, as was
his collection of first-day covers.
Question 4. What was Charley’s argument when the
psychiatrist told him that the stamp collection was a
temporary refuge from reality?
Answer:
Charley argued that his grandfather lived in nice and peaceful times, yet he
was the one . who had started the stamp collection. He did not need any
“temporary refuge from reality”. He added that President Roosevelt
collected stamps too.
Question 5. How does Charley describe Galesburg,
Illinois, 1894?
Answer:
Charley describes it as a wonderful town with a leisurely way of life with
big old frame houses, huge lawns, tremendous trees and a peaceful and
tranquil world. During summer evenings, people sat in their lawns, with
men smoking cigars and women waving palm-leaf fans. The first World War
was twenty years away and the second World War was forty years into the
future.
Question 6. What is a first-day cover?
Answer:
When a new stamp is issued, stamp collectors buy some and use them to
mail envelopes to themselves on the very first day of sale and the
postmark proves the date. The envelope is called a first-day cover. They are
never opened. You just put a blank paper inside the envelope.

19. Question 7. What role does the first-day cover play in
the story?
Answer:
One night, while fussing with his stamp collection, Charley comes across a
first-day cover that should not have been there. It had been mailed to his
grandfather at his home in Galesburg in July 18, 1894. However, instead of a
blank paper, it contained a letter for Charley from Sam. It urged him to come
back to the third level with Louisa, and keep looking for it till he found it.
Question 8. What was the content of the note that Sam
wrote to Charley?
Answer:
Sam said that he had found the third level, that he had already been there
for two weeks, that life was peaceful, calm and tranquil. He urged Charley
and Louisa to go back to the third level and keep looking for it till they found
it.
Question 9. How was Charley often lost on the Grand
Central Station?
Answer:
CHARLEY had went to the Grand Central Station hundreds of times.
However, at times, he was always lost in new doorways and corridors. Once,
he entered a tunnel and came out in the lobby of a hotel. Another time, he
reached in an office building.
Question 10. How did Charley compare the Grand
Central to a huge tree? Why?
Answer:
Charley always found new tunnels and staircase at the Grand Central. He
began to suspect that Grand Central was like a huge tree. It used to push
out new corridors and tunnels like the roots of a tree.

20. Q1- Who is the author of The Third Level?
A)George Orwell
B) Agatha Christie
C) James Joyce
D) Jack Finney
Q2- What was Jack's full name?
A) Walter Braden Jack Finey
B) Stephen Jone Jack
C) Ray Douglas Bradbury
D) None
Q3- Why was the author renamed?
A) to change his name
B) Priest's suggestion
C) to honor his mother
D) as an honor to his father
Q4- What are the author's best known works?
A) English and Science fiction
B) Science and history fiction
C) Science fiction and nature
D) Science fiction and thrillers
Q5- What is the meaning of 'Waking dream wish fulfillment"?
A) a pleasant wish that makes one forget the present
B) a pleasant wish that takes one to the future
C) A pleasant wish which inspires to work
D) a pleasant wish that makes one forget the present

21. Q6- What is the theme of the lesson?
A) human tendency of escapism because of the harsh realities of the present
B) time travelling
C) theory of escapism
D) a dialogue between a patient and a psychiatrist
Q7- How does the story begin?
A) in a jovial manner
B) in an aggressive manner
C) on a happy note
D) in a serious manner
Q8- What does the Third level signify?
A) a human tendency to escape from the harsh realities of the present to past happy times
B) A third way on Grand Central station
C) A third gate on Grand Central Station
D) None
Q9- What is 'Waking dream wish fulfillment" according to the psychiatrist in the lesson?
A) Charles finding of a Third level at Grand Central Station and realization of his wish to visit Galesburg Illinois
B) Charles escapism
C) Charles escapism from realities
D) None
Q10- Who was Charles' wife?
A) a woman
B) a woman with bright top
C) A woman at The Third Level
D) Louisa
Q11- What is Sam's letter to Charles represent?
A) A blend
B) an acceptance to visit
C) a proof of his fantasy
D) a blend of reality with fantasy

22. Q12- What is Sam's letter testimony to in the lesson proving?
A) his acceptance to travel
B) his refusal to travel
C) Sam accompanying Charles
D) Charles' tendency of escapism from the realities
Q13- In what way do we try to overcome the insecurities of the present harsh times
A) by engaging ourselves in practical activities
B) by talking to friends and family
C) reading good books
D) All these
Q14- What is the significance of 1894 in the lesson?
A) it was past
B) Authors' parents were alive
C) Author's childhood time
D) representing a peaceful , romantic living time
Q15- Who was Sam in The Third Level?
A) a doctor
B) a friend
C) a psychiatrist and a friend of Charley
D) None
Q16- Why did Charley visit Sam?
A) To consult the incident of Third level incident at Grand Central Station
B) To invite him
C) to invite him to accompany at Galesburg
D) To guide him in Galesburg
Q17- Does the Third Level really exist at Grand Station?
A) Yes
B) yes, there were 3 levels
C) No, there were only two levels at the station
D) None
Q18- What unusual thing the narrator sees at the Grand Central Station?
A) Trees
B) motorcars
C) Third Level
D) All these

23. Q20- What does the Psychiatrist explain to Charlie?
A) Third level is a beautiful place
B) Third level is worthseeing
C) Third level is well maintained
D) That it was the result of stress and anxiety of his mind
Q21- How did Charlie reach the Third Level?
A) In his fantasy he takes a subway or a corridor faster than a bus
B) in a superfast train
C) in jet ways
D) in an escalator
Q22- What was the Third Level?
A) a third tier on the station
B) a third storey on the station
C) an imaginary discovery of the narrator's mind
D) none
Q23- What did Charley see at the Third Level?
A) flickering gas lights and people with funny mustaches
B) brass spittoons
C) men wearing a tan gabardine suit and a straw
D) All these
Q25- Why does Charley want to visit Galesberg?
A) to escape from the troublesome world
B) to enjoy
C) to see the beautiful landscape
D) to meet his old friends
Q26- Why do you think the Third Level was an escape for Charley?
A) Because it existed at the third storey
B) Because Sam knew about it
C) Because he shared it with Sam
D) Because it existed only in his fantasy and not in reality
Q27- What is First Day Cover?
A) A new stamp gets the Postmark and date
B) A gift
C) A gift wrapper
D) A gift wrapped in a beautiful wrapper

24. Q28- How does the story interweave fantasy and reality?
A) For Charle's tendency to treat harsh realities with his imaginary Third Level
B) It presents imagination
C) imagination happens on Central Station
D) None
Q29- What specific difference did Charley notice at the Third Level of Central Station?
A) Everything was weird
B) Everything was old styled and smaller in size
C) everything was too big
D) everything was shining
Q30- Where was Charley ducked on Central Station?
A) into a room
B) into an office
C) into an arched door heading for subway
D) into a store
Q31- What was the strangest thing at The Third Level?
A) Beards
B) Mustaches
C) dresses
D) The corridor that led him into the past.
Q32- Where was Charley often lost?
A) from a train
B) from the footpath
C) from an escalator
D) from a subway faster than bus at The Central Station
Q33- What did Charley find in his stamp collection?
A) old addresses
B) hair styles
C) old letters
D) First day cover

25. Q34- What happens when Charley enters the Grand Central Station?
A) He finds a huge tree like Station
B) new staircases,corridors and tunnels
C) tree keeps spreading its roots throwing rooms and windows
D) All of these
Q35- What convinced Charly that he had reached the Third Level Grand Central Station and not the second level?
A) A different world of gas lights and brass spittoons
B) beards and mustaches of 1894
C) newspaper with a date June11, 1894
D) All of these
Q36- Who had sent that 'First Day cover and when?
A) Sam's father
B) Sam's uncle
C) Sam's friend
D) Sam a psychiatrist in 1894
Q37- Whose signatures were there on the letter?
A) Charle's teacher
B) Charle's friend
C) Sam
D) None
Q38- What did the letter state?
A) That everything is okay
B) that Sam is joining them
C) Third level do exist and Charle was advised to keep looking at this worthseeing place
D) None
Q39- What was Sam invited for according to the letter?
A) for a party
B) for a tea party
C) for a bachelor's party
D) for a lemonade party
Q40- What kind of appearances people had at Third level and why did the clerk refuse to accept money?
A) funny and clerk refused to accept money because it was currency of modern times
B) weird and notes were big
C) weird and notes were torn
D) weird and notes were wet

26. 1 D 11 D 21 A 31 D
2 A 12 D 22 C 32 D
3 C 13 D 23 D 33 D
4 D 14 D 24 A 34 D
5 A 15 C 25 A 35 D
6 A 16 A 26 D 36 D
7 D 17 C 27 A 37 C
8 A 18 C 28 A 38 C
9 A 19 D 29 B 39 D
10 D 20 D 30 C 40 A