NCERT, CBSE CLASS 12th VISTAS FIRST CHAPTER, SUMMARY, QUESTIONS & ANSWERS - THE THIRD LEVEL
THE THIRD LEVEL SUMMARY
In New York, Grand Central Station has two levels. Still, Charlie, a 31-year-old city dweller, talks that a third level exists. Plus, he claims he's been there. He goes to a psychiatrist friend to talk about the problem. He calls it "walking-dream wish fulfilment" and explains Charlie's psychology by saying that "the modern world is full of fear, insecurity, war and anxiety..." and everyone seeks an escape to a "temporary shelter from reality". According to him, hobby like stamp collecting is an indicator of this migration. At times Grand Central Station seems like a maze to Charlie. Earlier, he had lost his way several times while traveling by metro. Once he entered the lobby of the Roosevelt Hotel. While another time he appeared in an office building that was three blocks away. However, this time he goes astray and something strange happens. Charli goes to the third level! In the silent hallway, Charlie continues on, turns left, and heads downhill until he hits an architecturally older station, a stark contrast to the two familiar levels. Beyond that, this old little room with low ticket counters and train gates, a wooden information booth, open flame gas lights, and brass spoons. It all reminds him of the architecture of the 1800s. Also, he sees people in old clothes. When he looked at the date in the newspaper 'The World', he saw 11 June 1894. When he tried to buy two tickets, he realized that he needed the old notes. He had always wanted to visit Galesburg with his wife, Louisa. Back in his head, it is "a wonderful town, with big old frame houses, huge lawns, and tremendous trees...". This place has pleasant and long summer evenings and where people have enough time. So, the next day during lunch, he exchanges three hundred dollars for an old currency that is worth only two hundred. Also, the amount doesn't bother him as he believes everything will be cheaper there. However, he can never again find the corridor that leads him to the third level. When his wife came to know about this, she asked him to stop seeing her. Unexpectedly, his friend Sam Weiner also goes missing and his wife spends the weekend looking for him. Furthermore, Sam was the one with whom Charlie shared his view of Galesburg. Charlie inherited his hobby of stamp collecting from his grandfather. And one day while looking through the stamp collection, Charlie finds a letter that was not there before. In addition, it features a faded six-cent stamp with a picture of President Garfield. In addition, the envelope read as Charlie's grandfather dated July 18, 1894, in Galesburg and it is addressed to Charlie. In the letter, Sam tells Charlie that he has reached Galesburg and invites Charlie and Louisa there. After visiting a stamp and coin shop he learns that Sam exchanges eight hundred dollars for old currency bills to set up his business in Galesburg. Besides, Sam was none other than Charlie's psychiatrist!
THE THIRD LEVEL SUMMARY IN HINDI
NCERT Based Question & Answers:
Q1. What does the third level refer to?Answer:New York's Grand Central Station has two levels of subways from which passengers board trains to various destinations. No third level was ever built. However, the story's protagonist, Charlie, believes in the existence of a third level, which operates in the 1890s time-frame. The third level symbolizes an escape from the modern world which is "full of insecurity, fear, war, anxiety and everything else..." The 1890s period represents a peaceful life that is not possible in the present era. From this level, the protagonist wishes to travel to Galesburg, Illinois with his wife, Louisa. To him, it is a part of reality while his psychiatrist friends call it "waking-dream wish fulfillment"
Q2. Would Charley ever go back to the ticket-counter on the third level to buy tickets to Galesburg for himself and his wife?Answer:After reading the story, we learn that Charlie was interested in travelling to Galesburg with his wife, Louisa. However, he again could not locate the third level. In the first round, he accidentally found the third level. When he reached the ticket-counter, he realised that the currency he had was of no use as it belonged to another era.He went back to change his three hundred dollars into "old style currency" so that he could buy two tickets to Galesburg. However, when he returned to Grand Central, he could not find the corridor leading to the third level. He could not go back to seek the third level because his wife was very worried about him. Moreover, he himself had stopped looking for it after some time.
Q3. Do you think that the third level was a medium of escape for Charley? Why?Answer:He went back to change his three hundred dollars into "old style currency" so that he could buy two tickets to Galesburg. However, when he returned to Grand Central, he could not find the corridor leading to the third level. He could not go back to seek the third level because his wife was very worried about him. Moreover, he himself had stopped looking for it after some time.
Q4. What do you infer from Sam’s letter to Charley?Answer:The letter was addressed to Charlie but was forwarded to his grandfather in Galesburg, Illinois. It was mailed in 1894 and now appears in his grandfather's collection. The letter was suddenly found among the cover of the first day where it had never been seen before. Furthermore, the contents of the letter are exactly what Charlie thought of the Galesburg of 1890.Sam's letter to Charlie is a mystery that blends together the worlds of reality and fantasy, and thus, requires further exploration. The letter can be viewed from two perspectives. On one level, this proves that Sam has reached 1984 Galesburg. However, if we look at a deeper level, we can surmise that the letter is just another example of his hallucinations or dreams of escapism. It is possible that when Charlie was looking at the old first cover letter, he was transported to a different world where the letter was sent to Charlie by Sam. The letter shows Sam's unrelenting urge that compels him to continue his search for the third level.
Q5. The modern world is full of insecurity, fear, war, worry and stress. What are the ways in which we attempt to overcome them?Answer:Man often creates in his imagination a world that is somewhere between his desire and reality, and often seeks relief by mentally transferring himself into it. Time travel is another way of overcoming stress; We go back in time to what we think was a calmer and happier era. Nostalgic memories are also often a way of escaping from the troubling present.
Q6. Do you see an intersection of time and space in the story?Answer:Yes, the story clearly shows the intersection of time and space. First, the first two levels of Grand Central Station were located in the present day while the third level existed in the 1890s. Second, Charlie and his wife Louisa live in the present day, yet Charlie goes to 1894 to pick up old currency to buy a ticket to Galesburg. The old architecture of the platform on the third level is different from the platform of modern times. The antiquated manner of dress by people and the newspaper, The World, on June 1, 1894 also overlaps with Charley's real-time world and existence. Finally, the letter that was sent to Charlie's grandfather on July 18, 1894, highlights the intersection of time and space.
Q7. Apparent illogicality sometimes turns out to be a futuristic projection? Discuss.Answer:The apparent irrationality sometimes becomes a futuristic projection. Before the Wright Brothers invented the first aeroplane, no one could dare to believe that man could fly. Before Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, long distance conversations in real-time interface would have been impossible to believe. Furthermore, there are examples of inventions, such as inventing a modern sewing machine with a needle that has a hole on the wrong end, that were imagined in dreams. But are now part of our everyday reality. All of this emphasises that fantasies that once seemed illogical can become revolutionary things that change the future of mankind. Similarly, it is not far-fetched to think of railway stations equipped with time-machine devices, which would travel from one era to the next in just a fraction of the time.
Q8. Philately helps keep the past alive. Discuss other ways in which this is done. What do you think of the human tendency to constantly move between the past, the present and the future?Answer:Besides stamp collecting, there are many other ways to help keep the past alive. collecting historical artefacts, paintings and inscriptions in a museum, collecting and reading books (including biographies, bio-sketches, letters and diary entries) written in different eras, collecting and watching documentaries and other videos, all of these There are a few ways to revisit history. This human tendency enables him to plan for the future in the present by taking advantage of the past.
He went back to change his three hundred dollars into "old style currency" so that he could buy two tickets to Galesburg. However, when he returned to Grand Central, he could not find the corridor leading to the third level. He could not go back to seek the third level because his wife was very worried about him. Moreover, he himself had stopped looking for it after some time.
