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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What or who does the narrator live for?
(a) Zorba.
(b) Mankind.
(c) God.
(d) Women.

2. What makes the narrator want the widow even more?
(a) He reads a love story.
(b) He gets a letter from a family member.
(c) He learns to mine.
(d) He has a brush with death.

3. When Zorba and the narrator refuse Mavrandoni's offer of hospitality, what does he say about them?
(a) He says they are ungrateful.
(b) He calls Madame Hortense mean names.
(c) He says that he thinks they must be very hungry.
(d) He says they are free to choose.

4. Why does Zorba travel to town in Chapter 12?
(a) To hire a prostitute.
(b) To buy Madame Hortense many fine gifts.
(c) To buy supplies for the mine.
(d) To find a new job.

5. 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 cook him soup and play him music.
(c) He promises to find him a wife.
(d) He promises to make him a fortune.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Zorba say he removed the body part?

2. What does the narrator do when Zorba displays frustration with the miners?

3. In a letter to the narrator, Zorba indicates that he has a devil living inside of him who is like Zorba in every way except what?

4. Why does Zorba begin to feel restless and depressed while in Candia?

5. What body part is Zorba missing a part of?

Short Essay Questions

1. When the narrator makes an attempt to get to know some of the mine workers, he begins to discuss socialism with them. Zorba does not like this. What are his reasons?

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

3. At the conclusion of Chapter 2, do you think Zorba or the narrator has a more realistic outlook on how to live life?

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

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

6. Describe the narrator's relationship with his old friend.

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

8. How does the narrator's memory of the butterfly impact his feelings about approaching the widow?

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

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

Multiple Choice Answer Key

Short Answer Key

1. Why does Zorba say he removed the body part?

It got in the way of his pottery.

2. What does the narrator do when Zorba displays frustration with the miners?

He calls a lunch break.

3. In a letter to the narrator, Zorba indicates that he has a devil living inside of him who is like Zorba in every way except what?

It refuses to grow old.

4. Why does Zorba begin to feel restless and depressed while in Candia?

He realizes he's aging.

5. What body part is Zorba missing a part of?

Finger.

Short Essay Answer Key

1. When the narrator makes an attempt to get to know some of the mine workers, he begins to discuss socialism with them. Zorba does not like this. What are his reasons?

Zorba believes that supervising a workforce requires complete authority. He thinks it's better if they believe they have fewer rights and that workers who feel like they are equal to their bosses will eventually take rights away from their bosses.

2. 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.

3. At the conclusion of Chapter 2, do you think Zorba or the narrator has a more realistic outlook on how to live life?

I think that they have very different perspectives as distinct as two different languages. Zorba's outlook might be easier on a day-by-day basis as his doesn't require a lot of thinking through of various options and looks directly to instinct and passion. The narrator's perspective might be the more "realistic" however, in that it takes a much broader look at the many elements and their complex arrangements which come together to inform life.

4. 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.

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. Describe the narrator's relationship with his old friend.

The narrator and his friend have a deep connection and love for one another. However, the connection is largely unspoken as the two men often argue rather than express emotion to one another. The soldier friend is more of an adventurer than the narrator, and often teases the narrator for being such a bookworm. The two men contrast one another; the narrator is more of a philosopher who is focused on a higher power, while the friend is a soldier who believes in living his life for his fellow man and his nation. The connection between the two men, despite their differences, is clear in their agreement to send mental messages to one another if they sense danger. This obviously indicates that they believe strongly in their connection and friendship.

7. 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.

8. How does the narrator's memory of the butterfly impact his feelings about approaching the widow?

The narrator had attempted to help the butterfly emerge from the cocoon by blowing warm air on it. Doing this made the butterfly emerge too quickly and die. The narrator realizes while meditating on this memory, that an individual must "confidently obey the eternal rhythm." He knows, in turn, that he can't speed his relationship with the widow and must let it unfold naturally.

9. 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.

10. 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.