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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What act has Zorba performed that symbolizes the connection between freedom and manliness?
(a) He cut part of his ear off because it was larger than the other.
(b) He carried everyone's bags onto the ship.
(c) He brutally killed hundreds of people in the revolution.
(d) He cut part of his finger off because it got in the way of his pottery.

2. What or who does Zorba live for?
(a) God.
(b) Mankind.
(c) Man as individual.
(d) Mining.

3. Who were Madame Hortense's four great loves?
(a) Four admirals from England, France, Italy, Russia.
(b) Two pilots from America and two from Germany.
(c) Four thieves from Crete.
(d) Four chefs from Italy, France, Spain, and Poland.

4. What happens to Zorba that he believes to be a terrible omen?
(a) He grows interested in philosophy.
(b) He falls in love with a woman.
(c) He loses his job at the mine.
(d) A priest crosses his path.

5. What or who does the narrator's long-time friend live for?
(a) God.
(b) Women.
(c) Mankind.
(d) The narrator.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Zorba live his life?

2. Why does Zorba tell the narrator not to preach equality of the sexes?

3. Why does Zorba suggest that the narrator should burn his library?

4. What incident on the beach mellows the narrator's restlessness?

5. With what does the narrator compare his lustful feelings for the widow to?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is the narrator going to Crete?

2. What does Zorba do while in Candia?

3. Describe the first time that the narrator sees the widow.

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

5. What feelings does Zorba express about religion?

6. What does Zorba represent in the story?

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

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

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

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

Multiple Choice Answer Key

Short Answer Key

1. How does Zorba live his life?

He lives like every day is his last.

2. Why does Zorba tell the narrator not to preach equality of the sexes?

He says it will disrupt the island's way of life without offering solutions for making it better.

3. Why does Zorba suggest that the narrator should burn his library?

Because his books don't celebrate nature enough.

4. What incident on the beach mellows the narrator's restlessness?

He accidentally kills a butterfly.

5. With what does the narrator compare his lustful feelings for the widow to?

The temptation of Buddha by the Evil One.

Short Essay Answer Key

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. Describe the first time that the narrator sees the widow.

The narrator and Zorba duck into a cafe in the middle of a rainstorm, and from here, they see the widow run past the window. The narrator immediately finds her beautiful, although there are a variety of responses to her presence, not all of them positive. Soon after, Mimiko enters and reports that the widow has lost her sheep and offers a reward to anyone who can help return it to her.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

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. 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.

10. 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.