This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. When he arrives in Candia, what news does the narrator receive?

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

3. Whose death is sought after to avenge Pavli's death?

4. Who does Zorba claim was Hortense's greatest lover?

5. What happens to Gavrili in the night at the monastery?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe the monastery bishop's first theory on religion.

3. Why does Anagnosti say that Pavli is blessed?

4. How are Zorba's final moments described?

5. After the widow's murder, what happens when Zorba and Manolakas meet near the widow's garden?

6. Why do you think the narrator's good friend, the soldier, is not named until his death?

7. What might be the significance of the narrator inheriting the Santuri?

8. When writing letters to Madame Hortense, what does the narrator have to do?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Dualism is an important part of Zorba the Greek. Wherever one theory or way of being is presented, a counter theory exists.

Part 1) When the villagers kill the widow, how are they subverting Zorba's definition of women?

• Which of the two ways of thinking is more accurate?

• How might these extremes support the author's overall intention?

Part 2) How do Zorba and Hortense view their relationship to one another?

• Does Hortense's view of her own past match the way Zorba recounts her history?

• Does Zorba see himself as the partner to her that she sees in him?

• How do their opposing views ultimately affect their relationship?

• Why is she so fixated on marrying Zorba?

Part 3) Do you think that the Buddha has been completed or destroyed for the narrator at the end of the story?

Essay Topic 2

The narrator's intuition is a powerful asset which returns to him over and over as a sort of interface between the mind, body, and soul.

Part 1) Describe how the narrator's intuition works when he fabricates a letter from Zorba to Madame Hortense.

• How is he able to come up with Zorba's private terms of endearment?

• Do you think this level of intuition is more an act of the mind, the body, the soul, or some combination of the three?

Part 2) Do you think Zorba or the narrator is the more intuitive man?

• Taking into account their respective histories, what elements might have developed intuition more in one character or the other?

• Is intuition a product of being physically present or might it have developed as compensation for indulgence in a life of books?

Part 3) The narrator also exercises his intuition when he foresees Stavridaki's peril. Look for other instances in which the narrator seems to sense reality.

• How are these different from the way that Zorba considers reality?

• Does the narrator become more or less intuitive as the novel progresses?

• Does Zorba impact this characteristic in him?

Essay Topic 3

Being present in the moment is a major theme in Zorba the Greek. Kazantzakis utilizes Zorba to literally reinforce this to the narrator but provides him with an array of symbolic messages as well.

Part 1) Describe the narrator's memory of destroying the butterfly cocoon. How did this impact him?

• How does this make him more receptive to Zorba's advice?

• How does it make him less so?

Part 2) Zorba says that the act of celebrating is more important than the object of celebration.

• How is this a message of presence?

• Could Zorba's atheism be a similar symbol of presence? How so?

Part 3) The narrator believes that he can channel his sexual energy for the widow into the Buddha manuscript.

• Do you agree that such an act is possible?

• Is it possible for him to stay present in his physical body as he attempts this?

Short Answer Key

1. When he arrives in Candia, what news does the narrator receive?

His friend Stavridaki has died.

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

Anagnosti.

3. Whose death is sought after to avenge Pavli's death?

The widow.

4. Who does Zorba claim was Hortense's greatest lover?

Zorba.

5. What happens to Gavrili in the night at the monastery?

He is murdered by his lover.

Short Essay Answer Key

1. 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.

2. Describe the monastery bishop's first theory on religion.

He believes that the shape of a flower influences its color and its color then has an influence on its properties which in turn produce a specific effect on humans. He summarizes this theory with the belief that men should be careful when walking through fields of flowers because of the peculiar effects the flowers are having on them.

3. 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.

4. How are Zorba's final moments described?

Zorba dies howling and laughing like an animal.

5. After the widow's murder, what happens when Zorba and Manolakas meet near the widow's garden?

Manolakas challenges Zorba to a knife fight after having been beaten previously. Zorba tells him he will fight without weapons. Then the narrator intervenes and talks them down from fighting at all. They end up all drinking together.

6. Why do you think the narrator's good friend, the soldier, is not named until his death?

It may be to emphasize the theme of the importance of human interaction and companionship. Just as the narrator is gaining the realization that human connection is essential, his friend dies and his friend's name is revealed. His friend has also fulfilled his passion, which was to serve his country. His name is then symbolically mythologized when it appears in the story.

7. What might be the significance of the narrator inheriting the Santuri?

The Santuri, Zorba's musical instrument, was one of the symbols in the story of the expression of emotion outside of words. Zorba plays the Santuri in the story when he is happy. The fact that the story ends with the Santuri in the narrator's possession is an indication that he has grown closer to reaching his goal, that of a marriage between the body and spirit, and that he has attained some level of the sought after "freedom."

8. When writing letters to Madame Hortense, what does the narrator have to do?

The narrator must pretend he is Zorba. Therefore, he must take on Zorba's characteristics in his writings while looking for the best in Madame Hortense.

9. 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.

10. 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.