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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

3. What does Zorba's gift prompt Madame Hortense to do?
(a) Leave the room.
(b) Profess her love for Zorba.
(c) Start crying.
(d) Talk about her love affairs.

4. Who is the second person to offer the narrator and Zorba lodging in Crete?
(a) The local baker.
(b) The village elder.
(c) The monks.
(d) The pharmacist.

5. Who does Zorba suggest that the narrator romantically pursue?
(a) Noussa.
(b) Madame Hortense.
(c) The long lost love of his life.
(d) The widow.

Short Answer Questions

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

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

3. While Zorba and the narrator are in the shop, who runs past the window?

4. What does the narrator remember his friend teasing him about?

5. How does Lola refer to Zorba?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is the narrator going to Crete?

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

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

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

5. What does Zorba do while in Candia?

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

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

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

9. How does the fact that Zorba is missing half of his finger relate to his connection between manliness and freedom?

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

Multiple Choice Answer Key

Short Answer Key

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

Because his books don't celebrate nature enough.

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

The sexual organs.

3. While Zorba and the narrator are in the shop, who runs past the window?

A beautiful widow.

4. What does the narrator remember his friend teasing him about?

Being a bookworm rather than an adventurer.

5. How does Lola refer to Zorba?

Grandad.

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. 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 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. How does the fact that Zorba is missing half of his finger relate to his connection between manliness and freedom?

Zorba says that he cut part of his finger off because it got in the way of making pottery. He argues that anything that gets in the way of man doing what he wants should be removed. Because it takes a great deal of physical and mental courage to remove a body part, the connection for Zorba is strong.

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.