Chapter 12 Summary

The narrator begins this chapter with the shocking realization that all the poetry he once cherished no longer holds any value for him since it does not relate to the true human experience. He also equates Buddha with the Void and the end of civilization. The narrator's Buddha manuscript becomes "a real war, a merciless hunt" to expose the prophet's true nature and excise him from the writer's soul (134). The narrator writes all day, and when Zorba comes in late at night he finds that both men have found success: the narrator has made progress in his battle against the Void, and Zorba has discovered the correct slope for the timber rail. The next day, Zorba resolves to travel to the nearest town to purchase supplies. He promises to return in 3 days' time. Dame Hortense is distraught at her departure and begs him...