The Third Level Series (Part 2/3) - The Third Level Story Analysis

The Third Level Story Analysis

By - Sudarshan Das

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Table of Contents

1. About this project
2. First you understand the chronology (of this story). [Read this in Hindi for meme version]
   
3. Importance of stamp collection in this story
4. Why did Charlie open the first day cover even if he already knew that first day covers have blank pages?
5. Did Sam find the third level twice?
6. Conclusion in a meme-shell
7. Bibliography
   

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About This Project

(*Please continue only and only if you have read the chapter at least twice because I will be explaining this chapter in a much different way than you are expecting*)

Unlike some chapters, like "The Enemy", which had a deep grounded message to it from the beginning few pages only, this chapter, "The Third Level" neither has a deep meaning nor any philosophical question attached to its core, still it is a chapter which you will have to read at least twice to get the details of this chapter right. Re-re-reading this now for writing this project, I judge this chapter to be the simplest yet the most beautiful chapter in the class XII syllabus. Trust me, this chapter has lot more than what meets the eye and definitely more than what you have been taught of in school.

In this page we will be looking at the real depths and meaning of various hidden messages that the author had written of. Consider reading the Part 1 of The Third Level Series before or after reading this blog to get a more inter connected idea of what the author really wanted to tell in this story.

So, lets begin.

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First You Understand The Chronology of This Story

[*You can skip and come back to this part at last if can't understand the time-line in one go]

(For the non internet familiar people, this is a just a meme. This isn't anything political.)

Just before beginning I want you to have a quick look at this chronology of events, and though I have said in my Part1 blog that Jack Finney had written and published this story in 1952, but for this blog I want you to believe that the present timeline of the story is set in (at least) year 1922. That means, I want you to assume that when Charley is speaking, he is present in the year 1922. Got it? Good. (By the end of this page you will completely understand why I am asking you to make the assumption) 

Now let's look at the chronology.

1. Charley’s grandfather starts the collection. 
2. Sam arrives in 1894 Illinois with the help of The Third Level, and drops a first day non-empty cover to Charley’s grandfather with a '6cents, dull brown, president Garfield' stamp'.
3. It's year 1922 and Charley finds the third level. (Present timeline of the story).
4. Charley realises he needs old currency to travel because the ticket counter refused his modern currencies. 
5. Charley comes out of Third Level and buys old currency. 
6. Charley begins searching for the Third Level again.
7.  His wife gets perplexed at his absurd search and takes him to psychiatrist Sam. (Year 1922 is still going).
8.  Charley tells Sam everything about The Third Level, including the need of old currency to buy the tickets in Third Level.
9. Sam assures Charley it’s just stress bothering him.
10.  Charley being advised by Sam and his own wife, stopped searching for The Third Level (Year 1922 is still going.)
11. Psychiatrist Sam somehow though, finds The Third Level. And reaches to year 1894. 
12. Charley after sometime (in 1922) realises his psychiatrist is missing. 
13. Charley in his collection finds the first day cover by Sam with the '6cents, dull brown, president Garfield' stamp'.
14. Charley realises Sam has time travelled. 
15. Charley goes to coin store and finds out that Sam really had brought some old currency notes. 
16. Charley starts searching again for The Third Level and this time his wife is searching with him too.(Year 1922 is still going) . 
    

The Importance Of Stamp Collection In This Story

Trust me, the knowledge of stamp collection is very important for the punch of this story to kick in. (And I know you don't have the knowledge). The Third Level is a story about time travel and you must not read a story regarding time travel without the proper context of time. When Jack Finney wrote this story in 1952, people did not have Jio or Airtel, so the only way people communicated long distance was through letter writing; thus initial reader of the story(1952) had a good knowledge of stamps which made this a popular story.     

But let's take a moment back and see where the first hint we are given about the importance of stamp collection in this story.

Here's an important line from the end of the first page of this story that might not seem important at the first glance:

 

" But that’s the reason, he said, and my friends all agreed. Everything points to it, they claimed. My stamp collecting, for example; that’s a ‘temporary refuge from reality.’ "

When I first read the line, "Everything points to it" for the first time I expected by 'everything' , his friends must be giving a couple of reasons to prove the point. But the only explanation that was given, was that he had a hobby of stamp collection. I thought, 'umm...that's weird, if the author wants us to believe Charley is really just making things up in imagination then why didn't he give us some more pointers other than just his stamp collection hobby.'

The next time I found the stamp collection reference suspicious was when I read this line:

" The stamp was a six-cent, dull brown, with a picture of President Garfield." 

I thought well that's a much detailed description of stamp, considering just few lines ago Charley explained what a first day cover is and how it works. For some reason I just found that description to be unnecessary and a bit odd. 

But afterwards when I began re-reading the story, to decide if Sam really had travelled back in time or if Charley was just hallucinating, I found something more interesting. The only proof (other than Charley's testimony) that The Third Level really existed was all based on Sam's letter. So if Sam's letter somehow proves that it is really from 1894, then it will be proved that The Third Level existed and also that Sam really had time travelled.

That's when I realised the importance of the recuring theme of the stamps.

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Why did Charlie open the first day cover even if he already knew that first day covers have blank pages?

(The stamp that Charley was talking about. Dull brown, 6 cents, president Garfield)

Here a surprise fact. This stamp was issued in 1922. Yes, I know my history facts right. It was in real life issued in the year 1922 as a rare stamp (Check bibliography section for proof). Now how is it's date of issue important to the story? Good question

Let's look at the portion once again when Charley realised something was wrong with the first day cover: 

" That night, among my oldest first-day covers, I found one that shouldn’t have been there. But there it was. It was there because someone had mailed it to my grandfather at his home in Galesburg; that’s what the address on the envelope said. And it had been there since July 18, 1894 — the postmark showed that — yet I didn’t remember it at all. The stamp was a six-cent, dull brown, with a picture of President Garfield. "

Sam instantly doubted the letter when he saw it; because being a stamp collector for a long time he knew a first day cover of 1894 can never have a stamp from 1922.  It was at that moment when he knew time travel was real. And  all his speculations came true when he tore open the cover and found the letter signed by Sam and dated 1894. In front of him he had a letter dated 1894 that had a stamp from 1922. 

" But now we’re both looking, every weekend, because now we have proof that the third level is still there. "

This was the definitive proof, along with Sam's disappearance, that made even his wife believe on the existence of The Third Level this time. This is the way we know that the author did not want us to believe that Charley was not hallucinating, the author wanted us to know that time travel really took place and this was the most clear proof he presented to us.

Now you must have understood why I asked you to assume that Charley's present timeline must have been at least 1922; because otherwise the stamp issued in 1922 would have been alien to Charley, which it was not. And because Jack Finney wrote this story in 1952, Charley's timeline could be anywhere in between 1922 - 1952. This was the real reason why the author Jack Finney gave us stamp collecting as the only hobby of Charley. It was the only hobby that the readers of 1952 needed to understand that time travel really took place it the story.

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Did Sam Find The Third Level Twice?

(The Grand Central Terminal)

My first question after I realised that Sam had really time travelled was that, did Sam find The Third Level twice? or did had he believed in Charley's words from the very beginning?

Because clearly there are two possibilities:

1. Sam did not believe Charley's initial words but later found the Third Level by accident. And later went back to search it again with proper old currencies and after finding it twice, went to 1894.
   
2.  Sam was convinced by Charley's words but did not tell it to him. Listening to Charley's version and knowing that he will need old currencies, he brought them and went searching for it well prepared and found it in one shot. 

Now this  is quite a open ended question that I found interesting but as of now I have no proper answer; though I have some reasons to believe that both can be true.

The fact that Charley never found The Third Level twice suggests somewhat that The Third Level can only be discovered once. This makes me believe that Sam found The Third Level in one shot. 

But again the fact that in the letter he had advised Charley to keep searching for The Third Level also suggests that he might have found it in the second go. Again in his letter he had written - "I got to wishing that you were right. then I got to believing that you were right.". These two separate sentences back to back also suggests to me that he might have needed two trips to find The Third Level. 

I do not know the answer to this for sure, but I encourage you to ponder upon this and bring your own answers. 

I just added this question because I felt among many other easy questions, this important question wasn't getting enough attention. Also added this question just to prove that this story has many questions more than what just meets the eye in first attempt. 

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Conclusion in a Meme-shell

To sum up the whole story I only have 2 memes for you. Dat's right mah boy, I got memes dat will help U 2 remember this story easily. 

Why share notes before exam when you can share memes. Right?

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Bibliography

1. The Third Level, (Vistas CBSE class 12 prescribed book.)

2.  https://in.pinterest.com/ (For pictures)

3.  https://www.mysticstamp.com/Products/United-States/558/USA/#:~:text=1922%206%C2%A2%20Garfield%20Series%20of%201922-25%20Issue,Date%3A%20November%2020%2C%201922%20First%20City%3A%20Washington%2C%20DC (For President Garfield stamp issue date)

4. My own brain (I have that)

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Thank You For Reading

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