The Third Level
By: Jack Finney
Important Characters
*Charley- 31 years old
*Louisa- Charle's wife
*Sam - Psychiatrist friend
The narrator(Charley) says that he has been on the third level of the Grand Central Station. But other people swear that there are only two levels at the Grand Central Station. Charly consults his psychiatrist friend and tells him about the third level. His friend calls it 'a waking dream wish fulfilment'. He tells that Charley remains unhappy His wife has become almost mad. The modern world is full of insecurity, fear, war and worries. He just wants to escape. His friends also think of him as an escapist. His stamp collecting habit is also a temporary refuge from reality.
One night last summer Charley worked late at the office. He is in a hurry to go to his apartment for his wife Louisa. Charley is 31 years old, and he is wearing a tan gabardine suit and a straw hat with a fancy band. He turns into Grand Central. He goes down the steps to the first level. Then he walks down to the second level, where the Suburban trains leave from. Then he entered an arched doorway heading for the survey and gets lost. It is very easy to get lost at the Grand Central.
Sometimes he thinks that Grand Central is growing like a tree. It is pushing out new corridors and staircases-like roots. He has been in and out of Grand Central hundreds of times. Once he got into a tunnel about a mile long and came out in the lobby of the Roosevelt Hotel. Another time he came up in an office building on 46th street. On the Third Level, he finds only a few ticket windows and gates. The information booth in the centre is made of wood. It is old looking. He sees flickering open - flame gaslights. There are brass spittoons on the floor. People wear derby hats and four-button suits. A man is pulling a gold watch from his vest pocket. He has never seen so many beards, sideburns and fancy moustaches in his life. Then he looks around and sees that everyone in the station was dressed like eighteen-ninety something. He catches a glimpse of a very small carrier and Ives locomotive. Then he walks over to a newsboy and glances at the stack of papers at his feet. It was The World and The world has not been published for years but. The lead story said something about president Cleveland. He has found that front page since, in the Public Library files, and it was printed June 11, 1994. Charley turns towards the ticket Windows. He wants two tickeGalesburge icebergs, Illinois. The clerk figures the fare. He counts out the money And looks up. The clerk says 'that ain't money, Mister' and also warns him not to cheat him. He glances at the cash drawer. The money is in old-style notes and looks different. He turns and gets out last. There is nothing nice about going to jail even in 1894.
The next day he draws three hundred dollars out of his bank. He buys an old-style currency. His three hundred dollars buys less than 200 in old .yles. But he has never again found the corridor that leads to the Third Level at Grand Central Station. L Louisa, his wife, is worried when he tells her all this. She doesn't want him to look for the Third Level anymore. Now both Charlie and his wife Louisa, have proof that the Third Level is still there. His friend Weiner disappears. Nobody knows where but Charley suspects him to be in Galesburg. He liked the place very much. Charley had often told about the place, his school etc.
That night Charley finds among his oldest first - day covers, a rare envelope. Someone had mailed to his grandfather at his home in Galesburg. The postmark showed July 18, 1894. Charley had never seen that envelope before. He cannot understand how it came here. He takes it out and opens it. The letter was addressed to Charley by Sam. It was written that Charley was right about the Third Level. Sam had found the Third Level. He was in Galesburg. It was a highly romantic place. Someone was playing a piano and others were singing "Seeing Nelly homes". It was written that Charley and Louisa should keep looking till they found the Third Level again. The letter was signed by Sam. Charley goes to the stamp and coin store. He finds out that Sam had bought dollars worth of old-style currency. This money was enough to set up a feed and grain business that he had in mind. Sam was no one else but his psychiatrist friend. So Sam had already planned to set up a feed and grain business there.
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