The Third Level

Question

You have read ‘Adventure’ by Jayant Narlikar in Hornbill class XI. Compare the interweaving of fantasy and reality in the two stories.

Solution

In both the stories fantasy and reality are interwoven. In the story ‘Adventure’ Narlikar tries to prove that reality is limited to what we perceive. It has been proved that on firing an electron from a source, it may go anywhere. Even all the parts can exist together. Gangadhar's mind suffers such a transition from one world to another and back again.

In the same way, Charley in the Third Level wanders away from the rush, strain and crowd of New York to the Third Level at the Grand Central Station. It is the world of 1894 when he witnesses flickering gaslights, beards, sideburns, fancy mustaches and small Currier and Ives locomotives. There is a sweet world of Galesburg where people are living and enjoying to their best.

Thus both the stories present fantasy as well as reality

Some More Questions From The Third Level Chapter

What docs the third level refer to?
Or
Was there a Third Level? Give an evidence from the story in support of you answer?

Would Charley ever go back to the ticket-counter on the Third Level to buy tickets to Galesburg for himself and his wife?

Do you think that the Third Level was a medium of escape for Charley? Why?

What do you infer from Sam's letter to Charley?

'The modern world is full of insecurity, fear, war, worry and stress.” What are the ways in which we attempt to overcome them?

Do you see an intersection of time and space in the story?

Apparent illogically sometimes turns out to be a futuristic projection. Discuss.

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?