This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. To whom does the narrator's soldier friend say his greatest actions will be owed credit?
(a) The narrator.
(b) His father.
(c) Sampson from the Bible.
(d) Rembrandt's "Warrior."

2. In regards to food, what three categories does Zorba say that the three different types of men turn their food into?
(a) Love and kindness, manure and energy, and gluttony.
(b) Fat and manure, work and good humor, and God.
(c) Sex, work, and fat.
(d) Fear, love, and God.

3. Why does Zorba suggest that the narrator should burn his library?
(a) Because his books don't celebrate nature enough.
(b) Because the books are romantic.
(c) Because the books are unrelated to mining.
(d) Because the books are religious.

4. What does Zorba tell the narrator that God would rather him do?
(a) God would rather him celebrate Christmas than work on his writing.
(b) God would rather him go to church than work at the mine.
(c) God would rather him work at the mine than attend a celebration.
(d) God would rather him visit the widow than go to church.

5. What does the narrator's manuscript become for him?
(a) A guideline for feeling comfortable in the Void.
(b) A war-like attempt to completely remove the prophet from his soul.
(c) A blueprint for redesigning the mine.
(d) A meditation on finding true peace.

Short Answer Questions

1. While Zorba is away, who invites the narrator to visit Africa?

2. Who does Zorba offer to take the place of in Madame Hortense's world?

3. Who reports that a widow has lost her sheep and is offering a reward for it?

4. What story does Anagnosti tell at the celebration?

5. The narrator warn Zorba that such passions may lead to the removal of what body part?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the painting that Zorba presents to Madame Hortense.

2. When the narrator observes Zorba's ease with problem solving in Chapter 5, what figures come into his mind?

3. How might Madame Hortense's romantic history challenge Zorba's concept of his own manliness?

4. When Zorba encourages the narrator to be more like he is and pursue the widow, how does this contradict Zorba's other advice?

5. Describe the narrator's counter argument to Zorba's connection between manliness and freedom regarding his missing finger?

6. What does Zorba's version of God look like?

7. What does Zorba represent in the story?

8. When Zorba tells the story of the old man who will never die, what does this show about his own and the narrator's perspectives on life and death?

9. How does the narrator describe Zorba the first time he sees him dancing?

10. How does the narrator reveal that he is like his grandfather?

Multiple Choice Answer Key

Short Answer Key

1. While Zorba is away, who invites the narrator to visit Africa?

Karayannis.

2. Who does Zorba offer to take the place of in Madame Hortense's world?

Canavaro.

3. Who reports that a widow has lost her sheep and is offering a reward for it?

Mimiko.

4. What story does Anagnosti tell at the celebration?

The tale of his birth.

5. The narrator warn Zorba that such passions may lead to the removal of what body part?

The sexual organs.

Short Essay Answer Key

1. Describe the painting that Zorba presents to Madame Hortense.

The painting has four huge battleships on it in red, gold, gray, and black, each with a flag from one of four countries: England, France, Italy, and Russia. Leading the battleship as a siren was Madame Hortense, naked with a yellow ribbon around her neck and holding four strings attached to the ships.

2. When the narrator observes Zorba's ease with problem solving in Chapter 5, what figures come into his mind?

The narrator realizes that Zorba's mind is not stressed with education and that his problem solving is a result of his connection with the physical world. He compares Zorba to Alexander the Great cutting through the Gordian knot with his sword. His notes that it is difficult to miss with feet planted firmly and held by the weight of the entire body. This leads him to compare Zorba to the serpent worshiped by Africans. He notes that anything so connected with and touching the earth constantly must be superior in its understanding of the earth's workings.

3. How might Madame Hortense's romantic history challenge Zorba's concept of his own manliness?

Zorba believes in living for the day and that any impediment to freedom and manliness should be removed. Because he thinks sexual relationships are the ultimate in the physical life, he is helpless against the force of her own history. She has been romanced by legendary and powerful men, and Zorba cannot do anything to remove them as competitive forces from his own life. He offers to take on Canavaro's role in her life, but he has no power or awareness of how to actually fulfill that role.

4. When Zorba encourages the narrator to be more like he is and pursue the widow, how does this contradict Zorba's other advice?

Previously, Zorba told a parable about a crow who tries to walk like a pigeon, reinforcing his idea that one must remain true to his true and individual identity. Zorba's disappointment with the narrator when he is unable to be the man of sensuality that Zorba is, contradicts this parable to some extent.

5. Describe the narrator's counter argument to Zorba's connection between manliness and freedom regarding his missing finger?

The narrator argues that although such passions are admirable, they could also possibly lead to the desire to remove more crucial body parts. He suggests that Zorba might eventually want to remove his sexual organs, which would have a much more life-altering and drastic result.

6. What does Zorba's version of God look like?

Zorba claims to be an atheist, but he does tell the narrator that God is likely a more outrageous version of himself for whom forgiveness is not difficult, and who does not want to be worshiped.

7. What does Zorba represent in the story?

Zorba represents a man who lives for the physical world and ultimately for the individual self in that world. He is an agent of instinct and lacks theoretical reason for his actions. For the narrator, Zorba is a potential symbol of freedom in the narrator's quest to find freedom.

8. When Zorba tells the story of the old man who will never die, what does this show about his own and the narrator's perspectives on life and death?

Neither the narrator nor Zorba come to a conclusion about how one should live one's life. Zorba clearly lives as though each day is his last, in opposition to the old man in his story. The narrator is uncertain and contemplative about life and death and seems to change his mind slightly as he is influenced by different thinking.

9. How does the narrator describe Zorba the first time he sees him dancing?

The narrator says Zorba looks like he is wearing rubber shoes. He also says that Zorba's soul looks like it is trying to fling his body like a meteor into the darkness.

10. How does the narrator reveal that he is like his grandfather?

He remembers his grandfather demanding that guests tell him their personal stories of adventure so that he could experience the thrill through their stories. This is similar to the narrator in that the adventures for both occur removed from the action and inside the head and ideas of the two.