The Third Level is story which shows the intersection of space and time. The story shows how the Charley assumes third level which was present in 1890’s but now. The story weaves together a psychological journey of the narrator into past, present and moves towards future. When Charley went to Grand Central Station to take his train to Galesburg but he missed his train from first level and then he again missed the train from second level. So accidently he found another way leading him to the third level where he noticed that the brass spittoons, flickering gas light, and everyone dressed like 1890’s just like old fashion. He found the news paper which was showing the date of the year 1894. And then he went to ticket counter to buy ticket but his currency it was different and he was told by the clerk that they will put him behind the bars so he rushed to change his currency into older currency but when he came back he found there was no third level it was all his imagination. His wife was worried about him so he took him to the psychiatrist friend. He refuses to believe on Charley’s experience and said that it is a waking wish dream fulfillment as he could not face the modern world which is full of fear, insecurity, war worry, stamp collection a refuge from reality. One day he found and letter which was mailed to his grandfather on July 18, 1894 by his friend Sam. However the first day covers have blank papers in them, but this one contained a letter. Sam was the psychiatrist friend. And this incident was just his imagination as he didn’t find peace in the present time as he was getting in the 1890’s which was free of worry, fear and insecurities.
There is a subway in New York called The Grand Central Station which basically has two levels from where passenger goes to their respective destination by train. So when Charley missed his trains from first and second level of the station, so he started moving but he find a unknown way which lead him to the another station which was the third level which made him think about the period of 1980’s which was very peaceful that is not there in that present era but in actual there was no third level ever built it was all his imagination.
No, because when Charley went to third level to buy tickets and found that he had different currency from that period of 1980’s so when he went back to get change his currency as like old period so that he could by ticket but when returned back he didn’t find any third level there as it all was his imagination.
Yes, because according to Charley the present era is full of insecurity, fear, war, worry and he was unhappy in the present conditions but when he imagined the third level, he found it peaceful and pleasant and he felt happy in that period of time so definitely it proved third level a medium of escape for charley.
Sam’s letter was seemed to be a mystery. The letter was for Charley but it was mailed in 1984 and found in his grandfather’s collection. Charley found the content of letter just like he found about the third level. The instance somewhere shows the medium of escape for Charley. However the first day covers have blank papers in them, but this one contained a letter. We can also infer that maybe the letter was written in the 1984 by Sam to Charley which he is imagining in the present time. And this entire letter was an imagination.
Nowadays everyone is surrounded by lots of insecurities, worries, stress and fear but we should not let these things ruin our future so to overcome these problems we should do things which we like to do. We can engage ourselves in some work from which we feel inner peace. We should do meditation, should follow our passion and hobbies. We can go for adventure trip and we can read comics, can watch comedy related things which will make ourselves happy. But in these days to satisfy our need we forget one important thing that is sleep, so we should take proper sleep.
We should spend time with our family members because family members are the people who can encourage and motivate us towards a good and healthy life. Every day we should do at least one hour exercise and meditation to get peace and this will make us strong enough from inside. One important factor is our diet we should also follow a good diet. So by following all these things we can overcome anxieties and all the insecurities of our life.
Yes, there are some following instances which proves an intersection of time and space in the story :
It is true that apparent illogicality sometimes turns out to be a futuristic projection. There are lot of example which was first seemed to be foolish and illogical but now it is the reality. If Thomas Alva Edison thought about the bulb in the seek of light and invented it, if Alexander Graham Bell didn’t invented telephone then it would have been impossible to believe that we can talk with people far from ourselves. So all these things which had seemed to be illogical but it turned into reality and made our lives easier than before. Similarly, it was also an illogical thing that we can travel from one place to another just like a time machine in the matter of time but it all get invented in the form of rail. So illogical things sometimes turns out to be futuristic projection.
Not only philately there is various ways by which we can make past alive in present and future. We can collect old historic things like old currency, post stamps, paintings, inscriptions and books etc. and also in today’s era where there is lot of technologies by which we can preserve all the historic things for a long time. We can click pictures, make videos which can be preserved in a hard disk. And all these things will remind us about the past and will connect past with present and our future.
Human have tendency to constantly move between the past, the present and the future. And somewhere it is a good thing by doing mistakes in our past we can take lessons from it and can make present and future beautiful. By taking lessons from past and taking correct decisions in present can make future easier and have good impact on our lives.
In ‘Adventure’ Jayant Narlikar expressed that many worlds exist simultaneously though they appear to be separated by time. He expressed that the other world also existed and prospered with the world we are aware of. On the third level, Charley a young New York commuter wandering Grand Central Station by accident finds a gateway that leads to a real past of 1894. Seizing the opportunity Charley attempts to escape the rat race by buying a one- way ticket to his childhood town of Galesburg. Not having proper currency for that period, he forced to postpone his plan to escape to the past.