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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What concept does the narrator come up with when formulating his ideas about death?
(a) Sacred awe.
(b) Spirit of the body.
(c) Death by philosophy.
(d) Sacred body.

2. What news does the monk Zaharia bring in Chapter 24?
(a) He has quit his life at the monastery.
(b) He has burned down the monastery.
(c) He wants to become a lignite miner.
(d) He robbed the monastery.

3. What good omen marks the narrator and Zorba's morning on the day work is to begin on the railway?
(a) White flowers blooming outside their window.
(b) Candles that Madame Hortense has lit.
(c) Children singing in the streets.
(d) A light breeze sweeping the fog away.

4. What does Zorba say prompted him to quit the army?
(a) Seeing the orphans of a priest he killed.
(b) Being trapped in a trench with dead bodies.
(c) Torching a village.
(d) seeing children murdered.

5. Who does Zaharia say inspired his mission?
(a) Archangel Michael.
(b) The abbot.
(c) Demetrios.
(d) The Holy Spirit.

Short Answer Questions

1. When she dies, who brings the officials to inventory Madame Hortense's belongings?

2. Who kills the widow and how is it done?

3. Who challenges Zorba to a knife fight near the widow's garden?

4. What causes Zorba to become infuriated after Hortense's death?

5. What supposedly happens to the Martyred Virgin once every year?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Madame Hortense actually think of Zorba?

2. In his third theory of religion, what does the bishop give as God's reason for sending religion to the masses?

3. What two major shifts happen to the narrator in Chapter 21? What major realization do these shifts spur in the narrator.

4. How does the narrator describe eternity in Chapter 15?

5. Describe the incident that prompted the monastery icon's name to be changed from Our Lady of Mercy to Our Lady of Revenge.

6. What evidence of artistic inspiration does the narrator find in the ruins of the old city? How does he feel when he sees it?

7. Why does Zaharia say he became a monk?

8. What story does Zorba tell in Chapter 20 that supports the theme that appearance creates reality?

9. Why does Anagnosti say that Pavli is blessed?

10. What does Zorba say about women when the narrator reveals that he has proposed to Madame Hortense on his behalf?

Multiple Choice Answer Key

Short Answer Key

1. When she dies, who brings the officials to inventory Madame Hortense's belongings?

Anagnosti.

2. Who kills the widow and how is it done?

Mavrandoni cuts her head off.

3. Who challenges Zorba to a knife fight near the widow's garden?

Manolakas.

4. What causes Zorba to become infuriated after Hortense's death?

The narrator does not have the answers to his questions.

5. What supposedly happens to the Martyred Virgin once every year?

It bleeds from a chiseled wound.

Short Essay Answer Key

1. What does Madame Hortense actually think of Zorba?

Madame Hortense thinks Zorba will make a useful husband but does not think much of him above and beyond that role. She wishes also that he were as exciting and accomplished as her former lovers.

2. In his third theory of religion, what does the bishop give as God's reason for sending religion to the masses?

He says that God sent religion as an act of mercy for the masses in order that they might experience living in "eternity." The bishop believes that only a few people on earth are able to live an eternity during their natural lives on earth.

3. What two major shifts happen to the narrator in Chapter 21? What major realization do these shifts spur in the narrator.

The narrator finally sleeps with the widow, which Zorba has been encouraging him to do for some time. The narrator also finishes the Buddha Manuscript and with it, has the realization that he has exorcised the Buddha from himself. These two shifts make it clear to the narrator that "the soul is flesh as well," or in other words the actions of his body are just as important and spiritual as the meditating and thinking to which he is accustomed.

4. How does the narrator describe eternity in Chapter 15?

He describes it as being each minute that passes.

5. Describe the incident that prompted the monastery icon's name to be changed from Our Lady of Mercy to Our Lady of Revenge.

In ancient times Algerians raided and set fire to the monastery. When they passed by the statue, it is said that she came to life, leaped down, and began stabbing the warriors with her spear until she had killed them all.

6. What evidence of artistic inspiration does the narrator find in the ruins of the old city? How does he feel when he sees it?

The narrator finds a partially finished jar carved from stone and a chisel on the ground nearby. This fills him with bitterness as he realizes the artistic inspiration has been defeated.

7. Why does Zaharia say he became a monk?

He says poverty led him to become a monk. He was hungry and knew that if he went into the monastery there would be no way he could starve.

8. What story does Zorba tell in Chapter 20 that supports the theme that appearance creates reality?

Zorba tells a story in which his grandfather takes a piece of wood, calls it part of the True Cross, and declares that it will protect the soldier to whom he gifts it from all harm in battle. The soldier then becomes a brave and invincible warrior simply because he believes that he has nothing to fear.

9. Why does Anagnosti say that Pavli is blessed?

Pavli commits suicide by drowning, and Anagnosti says that he is blessed because he is free from the object of his desire, the widow. Anagnosti claims that Pavli could not have lived happily with or without her because he had so much passion for her but now he is at peace.

10. What does Zorba say about women when the narrator reveals that he has proposed to Madame Hortense on his behalf?

Zorba says that women are delicate creatures and are unable to handle such jokes.