Short Answer Questions ( 2 Marks)
Q1.What does the narrator think of
Grand Central? What does it symbolize?
Ans : The narrator thinks that
Grand Central is growing like a tree. It pushes out new corridors and
staircases like roots. There are long tunnels under the city on their ways to
Times Square and to Central Park.
The Grand Central symbolizes the
labyrinth that this world is with its intricate and tangled pathways. It has
always been an exit, a way to escape.
Q2. What strange things did the narrator see when he reached the third
level of Grand Central?
Ans : Charley noticed a
difference in the way things looked at the third level of the Grand Central
Station. It was smaller, with fewer ticket counters and had an old look of the
1890s with wooden booths, dim open-flame gaslights, brass spittoons and an
old-style locomotive with a funnel shaped stack. Even the people’s attire was
old fashioned and men had funny handle-bar mustaches and sideburns. The whole
setting was in contrast to the modern times.
Q3. How did the man on the third level appear to the narrator?
Ans : The narrator saw a man
pulling a gold watch from his vest pocket. He snapped open the cover, glanced
at his watch and frowned. He wore a derby hat, a black four-button suit with
tiny lapels and had a big, black handlebar moustache.
Q4. What did the narrator do to make sure that he was actually at the
third level of Grand Central?
Ans : The narrator walked over to
a news boy. He glanced at the stack of newspapers. It was The World and The
World had not been published for years. The lead story was about President
Cleveland. Later on, he confirmed from the public library files that the newspaper
was dated 11th June 1894.
Q5. Why did the narrator turn towards the ticket windows? Why did he
run back from there?
Ans : The narrator turned towards
the ticket window to buy tickets to go to Galesburg, Illinois, in the year of
1894. When Charley produced money to pay for the two tickets, the clerk stared
at him as the currency did not match with the currency of that time. He accused
him of trying to cheat him and threatened to hand him over to the police. The
narrator turned away thinking that there was nothing nice about jail even in
1894.
Q6. How does the narrator’s psychiatrist friend react to the narrator’s
statement that the third level exists?
Ans : The narrator’s psychiatrist
friend, Sam Weiner, says it is ‘a waking-dream-wish fulfilment’. He says that
the narrator is unhappy and the modern world is full of insecurity, fear, war
and worry. So, he wants to escape and has created an imaginary third level.
Q7. What happened to the narrator’s psychiatrist friend Sam Weiner?
What do you deduce from it?
Ans:
One day the narrator’s
psychiatrist friend Sam Weiner disappeared. He was a city boy. He always said
that he liked Galesburg very much and its sound. From this I deduce that even
Sam was affected by the stress of modern living and sought temporary refuge by
travelling through time.
Q8. What is the evidence that Charley often sought escape through time
travel?
Ans : Charley had often bumped
into new doorways, archways and stairways at the Grand Central and got lost.
Once he had got into a long tunnel, about a mile long, and another time had
landed in an office building on the Forty-sixth street, three blocks away. This
makes it evident that Charley, often sought escape through wishful dreaming and
in nostalgic memories. He often lived in a world of fantasy.
6-Mark
Questions
Q9. 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.
Ans : ‘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.
Q10. Do you think that the third level was a medium of escape for
Charley? Why?
Ans : 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 wakingdream wish fulfilment. Hence, the third level
undoubtedly is a medium of escape for Charley.
Q11. What do you infer from Sam’s letter to Charley?
Ans : 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.
Q12. The modern world is full of insecurity, fear, war, worry, tension
and stress. What are the ways in which we attempt to overcome them?
Ans : 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.
Q13. Did Sam really go to Galesburg or was it Charley’s figment of
imagination?
Ans : 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.
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