The Third Level – Summary

The Third Level is written by Jack Finney. There are two levels at the Grand
Central Station, New York. But Charley, the protagonist of the story, asserts
that there is third level too. He uses the third level to escape from the
unpleasant life of New York to the pleasant life of Galesburg, Illinois.

Summary
Charley was 31 years old man married to Louisa. Several times he had lost
himself in the Grand Central Station. He always found himself bumping into
new doorways and new corridors. Every time he had a new experience. He
even had begun to believe that the Grand Central was like a huge tree ever
pushing new tunnels and new corridors like the roots under the ground. Once
he got into a mile long tunnel and came out in the lobby of a hotel. At another
time, he came up into the building of an office.
There were certainly only two levels at the Grand Central. But Charley
asserted that there were three levels. He talked about it to his friends. One of
them was a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist said that it was nothing but day-
dreaming. He explained that it was only an escape from his present life. The
modern world was full of fear, tension and worries. The third level provided
him an exit from it.

His other friends agreed with the psychiatrist. They said that his stamp
collecting was also a temporary escape.

Charley did not agree with them. He said that his grandfather started the
stamp collection. And in his grandfather’s days, life was peaceful. He did not
need an escape. Besides, President Roosevelt also collected stamps.

One day, Charley got late from his office. He wanted to reach home soon. So
he went to the Grand Central to catch a train. He walked down to the first
level, and then walked down another flight of stairs. He thought he had
reached the second level again. But he got lost. He walked down a corridor.
He thought it was wrong. But he walked on downward. He walked down a
short flight of stairs. He thought that he had reached the second level again.
But actually he had reached the third level.
The third level was entirely different and old-fashioned. There were fewer
ticket windows. The information booth was made of wood. The lights were
open flame gas lights. There were brass spittoons on the floor. Men had
beards and sideburns. Women wore old-fashioned dresses and high buttoned
shoes. The railway engine was small with a funnel shaped stack. Everything
looked a century old. He walked to the newsboy. There he glanced at “The
World”. The lead story was about President Cleveland. Later Charley found
out from the library files that it was printed on June 11, 1894.
Charley wanted to go to Galesburg. He had been there in his childhood days.
It was a wonderful town with tremendous tress and frame houses. In 1894, it
was a heaven of peace and tranquility. People lived a carefree life. So he
asked for two tickets to Galesburg. He paid the fare in modern notes which
were different from those in 1894. The clerk thought the notes were fake and
Charley was trying to cheat him. He threatened to get him arrested. Charley
immediately turned around and fled as fast as he could.
Next day, Charley bought old-style notes from a coin dealer. He got only two hundred
old dollars for three hundred new dollars. But he could never again find the corridor
that led to the third level.

Charley’s wife was worried when she heard that he had bought old-style notes. So,
Charley turned to his stamp collection. One day, among his grandfather’s collection of
first day covers, he discovered an envelope. The postmark showed that it had been
there since July 18, 1894. He opened the envelope but the paper inside was not blank.
It was a letter from Sam, the psychiatrist friend whom Charley had often told about
Galesburg. He had already gone there. He urged Charley to continue to look for the
third level and join him in the Galesburg of 1894. It was a wonderful place.

Later Charley learnt that Sam had bought eight hundred dollars’ worth of old
currency. Charley hoped Sam would have set up hay and feed business in Galesburg.
And that was what he had always wished to do.

Theme
The story third level clearly explores the science fiction genre of ‘time travel’; Jack Finney,
the recipient of the world fantasy award interweaves fantasy with the reality in the most
futuristic projection of time travel. Charley wishes to be transported to the third level, the
world of 1894 which is supposedly much happier and quieter place to be. It is one of the most
concise and entertaining story about time travel. The question whether the third level exist in
real or only in charley’s mind can be inferred from Sam’s letter.
The story also dwells on the theme of escapism, not only as a psychological refuge from the
grim realities of the present day world but also as a desire to stay with the past or to keep
the past alive in the complexities of the present. In the story charley not only expresses
desire to escape but also prepares and tries very hard, a desire which is not contested by the
wife either. Sam is also happily escaped with no plans to resort to his old profession along
with scores of other people who cross the grand central everyday… to escape seems to be an
all pervasive feeling.

What does the third level refer to?

From a literal perspective, the third level refers to the third floor at the Grand Central Railway station.
Symbolically, however, it refers to some kind of a portal that can help one travel back in time, (in this
case, 1894) and it can teleport the person to Galesburg, thus helping the person to travel some distance,
(which is equivalent to travelling in space). At a psychological level, the third level is an imaginary dream,
a "waking dream" that afforded him an escape from the insecurity and stress of everyday life. There are
therefore three different aspects to the third level.
The first interpretation is supported by Charley's description of how once while going back home, he
turned into Grand Central from Vanderbilt Avenue, went down the steps to the second level, then he
walked down another flight of stairs, ducked into an arched doorway and got lost. He ended up in the
lobby of the Roosevelt Hotel. The second time he entered a corridor and stepped into a tunnel and
ended up in an office building on 46th street. The third time he ended up in a railway station on the
third level in the year 1894! The third level was thus an intersection in time and space.
An interesting Science fiction interpretation is that the third level is a portal, an exit into another town
and another town. Charley ended up in a railway station in 1894. Sam, his psychiatrist friend was able to
travel, from the third level to Galesburg in 1894. To quote from Sam's letter, "I got to wishing that you
were right. Then I got to believing you were right. And, Charley, it's true; I found the third level! I've
been here two weeks, and right now, down the street at the Daly's someone is playing a piano". The
address on the letter reads, "941 Willard Street, Galesburg, Illinois", and the date is, "July 18, 1894". The
symbol of the "tree, pushing out new corridors and staircases like roots," suggests a highway, a portal
into space (place) and time. The multiple corridors take you to different time-zones and different places.
The third explanation is that the third level is a mere figment of the imagination. Charley was "unhappy"
probably stressed out from work so he decided to escape into a fantasy world. It was a "temporary
refuge" from the real world. It was an escape mechanism built by the brain to give the mind some rest.
So one might argue that the third level was nothing but a daydream, fantasy or something imagined on
the spur of the moment.