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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

3. What does Zorba indicate would be the worst thing the narrator could do to Anagnosti?
(a) Leave his celebration.
(b) Cast down his religion.
(c) Hire him at the mine.
(d) Kill his children.

4. What incident on the beach mellows the narrator's restlessness?
(a) He sees a shooting star.
(b) A horse and rider pass by.
(c) He hears strange music.
(d) He accidentally kills a butterfly.

5. In Chapter 3, what is the narrator reading when Zorba asks him to come in for lunch?
(a) The Bible.
(b) Shakespeare.
(c) Virgil.
(d) Dante.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Chapter 4, what does the narrator do when he first awakens?

2. What does the narrator mostly do while Zorba works in the mine?

3. Who does Zorba meet while in Candia?

4. When the narrator meets some young women on his first day in Crete, how do the girls respond?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator try to get the widow out of his mind at the beginning of Chapter 10?

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

3. Describe Zorba's only account of his heart being broken.

4. Why is the narrator going to Crete?

5. How does Zorba's version of the devil living inside him compare to Zorba himself?

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

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

8. Explain the parrot's role in the life of Madame Hortense and her guests.

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

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

Multiple Choice Answer Key

Short Answer Key

1. In Chapter 4, what does the narrator do when he first awakens?

Smokes a pipe.

2. What does the narrator mostly do while Zorba works in the mine?

He works on his writing.

3. Who does Zorba meet while in Candia?

A young woman.

4. When the narrator meets some young women on his first day in Crete, how do the girls respond?

Fearfully.

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. How does the narrator try to get the widow out of his mind at the beginning of Chapter 10?

The narrator views the widow as a temptation of the Evil One and focuses on writing his Buddha Manuscript in order to exorcise her image and the lust he feels for her from his mind. To him, his writing is comparable to the force of savages facing beasts with their spears.

2. 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.

3. Describe Zorba's only account of his heart being broken.

Zorba met a woman named Noussa ten days after leaving the village of his previous lover. Noussa invited him to her house for a feast at which Zorba gave a toast. After this, the lights went out and a massive orgy began. He lost Noussa in the midst of the orgy but found her the next day, and they remained together for 6 months. She then eloped with a soldier and broke Zorba's heart.

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. How does Zorba's version of the devil living inside him compare to Zorba himself?

Zorba says that the devil is a mirror image of himself. The only difference is that the devil refuses to grow old. He also wears a red carnation behind his ear.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. Explain the parrot's role in the life of Madame Hortense and her guests.

Hortense's parrot is a constant reminder of Madame Hortense's greatest love. As a possession, it has been trained to say Canavaro's name repeatedly and therefore to challenge the immediacy of Zorba's manliness.

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. 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.