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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What does the narrator do when Zorba displays frustration with the miners?
(a) He leaves the mine without speaking.
(b) He fires Zorba.
(c) He fires several miners.
(d) He calls a lunch break.

3. What does the narrator do on his first morning in Crete?
(a) He reads the Bible.
(b) He takes a stroll through the countryside.
(c) He discusses his plans for the mine with Zorba.
(d) He goes to the market.

4. What is the great plan that Zorba reveals to the narrator in Chapter 6?
(a) He wants to develop a cable system for transporting timber.
(b) He plans to blast a new entrance to the mine.
(c) He plans to marry Madame Hortense for her great wealth.
(d) He wants to build a ship so that he and his boss can sail around the world.

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What painting does Zorba present to Madame Hortense?

3. Who does Zorba suggest that the narrator romantically pursue?

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

5. When Zorba and the narrator refuse Mavrandoni's offer of hospitality, what does he say about them?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does Zorba do while in Candia?

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

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

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

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

7. What does Zorba represent in the story?

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

9. 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?

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

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 painting does Zorba present to Madame Hortense?

A painting of her as a siren leading battleships.

3. Who does Zorba suggest that the narrator romantically pursue?

The widow.

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

Fearfully.

5. When Zorba and the narrator refuse Mavrandoni's offer of hospitality, what does he say about them?

He says they are free to choose.

Short Essay Answer Key

1. 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.

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. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

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. 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.

10. 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.