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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does Zorba say he removed the body part?
(a) It was too big.
(b) It was strangely colored.
(c) It hurt constantly.
(d) It got in the way of his pottery.

2. What does Zorba promise the narrator upon the initiation of their friendship?
(a) He promises to do all of his cooking and cleaning.
(b) He promises to find him a wife.
(c) He promises to make him a fortune.
(d) He promises to cook him soup and play him music.

3. As the narrator gets to know the mine workers, what does he talk to them about?
(a) Revolution.
(b) Religion.
(c) Socialist ideas.
(d) Women.

4. 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.

5. Who takes charge when the work begins in the mine?
(a) A soldier.
(b) Zorba.
(c) The narrator's grandfather.
(d) The narrator.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Zorba suggest that a man best get to know the world?

2. What are Zorba's beliefs about the existence of God?

3. What part of the narrator's friendship with his absent friend is he sad about?

4. With whom do the narrator and Zorba enjoy Christmas Eve dinner?

5. What or who does Zorba live for?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Zorba's categories of marriage and how many of each he's experienced.

2. 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?

3. What does Zorba do while in Candia?

4. Why is the narrator going to Crete?

5. Describe the narrator's memory of his old friend while on their visit to the museum.

6. Discuss the two goals that the narrator sets for himself at the end of Chapter 4? How is this a shift from the beginning of the story?

7. What is Zorba's account of God's creation of woman?

8. What reasons does Zorba give in Chapter 9 for so intensely wanting the narrator to go and sleep with the widow?

9. In Chapter 3, how are the relationships between men and women on Crete exhibited?

10. What feelings does Zorba express about religion?

Multiple Choice Answer Key

Short Answer Key

1. How does Zorba suggest that a man best get to know the world?

He suggests that a man spend some time being savage and sinful.

2. What are Zorba's beliefs about the existence of God?

He does not personally believe in God but believes religion is essential to civilization.

3. What part of the narrator's friendship with his absent friend is he sad about?

The two argued rather than expressing love.

4. With whom do the narrator and Zorba enjoy Christmas Eve dinner?

Madame Hortense.

5. What or who does Zorba live for?

Man as individual.

Short Essay Answer Key

1. Describe Zorba's categories of marriage and how many of each he's experienced.

Zorba says he's been married "honestly," "half-honestly," and "dishonestly." He says that he's been married "honestly" or legally only once. He says that he's been "half-honestly" married, or in relationships similar to marriage that were not made formal and legal with a wedding, two times. He says that he's been "dishonestly" married a thousand times, and by this he is referring to every sexual encounter he's ever had.

2. 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.

3. What does Zorba do while in Candia?

He meets a young girl with whom he has an affair. He also spends all of the boss's money.

4. Why is the narrator going to Crete?

The narrator is curious about the adventurous life his friend preached to him. He is going to Crete to experiment with such a life by renting a lignite mine and thus engaging more with the physical world. His overall goal in these actions is to find freedom through a marriage of the mind and body.

5. Describe the narrator's memory of his old friend while on their visit to the museum.

The narrator's old friend told him of his love for a painting by Rembrandt; a painting he says he will owe his greatest accomplishments to. As they are leaving the museum, they see a bird land on a statue of an Amazon and begin singing. The narrator asks what it might mean, and the friend recites a few lines that encourage the narrator not to bother himself with such thoughts.

6. Discuss the two goals that the narrator sets for himself at the end of Chapter 4? How is this a shift from the beginning of the story?

The narrator wants to rid himself of Buddha and the abstract thinking that comes along with Buddha. He also wants to be completely present in the physical world of men. He has wanted to find this physicality since the beginning of the story when his old friend's words inspire him to seek such a life, and begin his journey to Crete. Originally, he was completely invested in philosophizing as well. However, the fact that he wants to exorcise Buddha from his thinking is a definite shift in his character.

7. What is Zorba's account of God's creation of woman?

Zorba says that when God removed the rib from Adam, the devil turned into a snake and snatched the rib and ran off with it. God then chased the devil and caught him, but the devil ultimately got away while God was left holding only his horns. God then made woman out of the devil's horns rather than the rib of Adam.

8. What reasons does Zorba give in Chapter 9 for so intensely wanting the narrator to go and sleep with the widow?

He says that women need men to sleep with them and protect them; that it is a part of a greater plan. He says she will be ruined if a man does not go and sleep with her. He also says that not taking the opportunity to sleep with her is one sin that God will not forgive.

9. In Chapter 3, how are the relationships between men and women on Crete exhibited?

In the beginning of the chapter, the narrator's encounter with the young women in the country exhibits the historical impact of war and violence on the male/female relationship. They are immediately frightened of him as a stranger, and so their encounter is stunted. Mavrandoni's offer to let the men stay in his house to avoid the scandal of staying with a woman also exhibits a level of division and acceptable interaction between men and women.

10. What feelings does Zorba express about religion?

Zorba claims to be an atheist. However, when it comes to the other villagers, Zorba believes that religion is not only important but is the center of their way of life. He warns the narrator that speaking against religion to the villagers is not wise as it is better for them than having no organized structure at all.