The Third Level

Imagine yourself getting on a train in Grand Central Station in modern times. When you get off you are on the third level of the train station. This you have been looking to find for your whole life. When you buy a newspaper you notice that the price is very low and that the dated is 1894. You have just time traveled to Grand Central Station on June 11, 1894. This is what happens to the main character Charley in the short story, “The Third Level”. The author, Jack Finney wrote this romance that teaches a lesson, and reminds me of the movie, The Time Travelers Wife.
This story is an unrealistic romance. In order to be a romance, the story has to have a mild conflict. This is when Charley finds himself more than ninety-eight years into the past. The story also has to end in a life affirming symbol. Whether the story was in the year 2020 or 103 it would still be very unrealistic because as of right now no one can time travel. A romance lastly has to have a porpoise of escapism and that is exactly what this story has because Charley was trying top get back to modern times the whole story.
This romance also teaches a lesson. The lesson is that even though were you are may be great, it’s never better than real life. This is true because one Charley got to 1894 he loved it because he had found the third level which wasn’t supposed to exist and he wanted to explore it. He was so happy but even though all of this joy was good, he probably would have had the same amount of joy back home.
On the other hand, the movie, The Time Travelers Wife has almost the same lesson. The movie relates a lot to the story. They are both kind of confusing and are both a romance which makes them unrealistic. The Time Travelers Wife is confusing because you never know why he leaves or why he never takes his clothing with him. It is also confusing because you never know were he is going or when. Another reason that the “The Third Level” is confusing because it is so unreal when he leaves and doesn’t know where he is, so you can’t really relate to it so you don’t know what is going on. Even though in The Time Travelers Wife they do go into the future when “The Third Level” doesn’t, they both go into the past and that makes them alike.
In Jack Finney’s “The Third level” there is a plot line of a romance that teaches a lesson and this lesson. This story would also compare to the movie The Time Travelers Wife. Overall, readers learn that finding that “somewhere” you always looked for, may not be better than were you were before.