Chapter 24 Summary

When the men return to the beach, Zorba asks the narrator about death and why people die. The narrator replies that he does not know, and Zorba grows furious. Surely, the answer would be in his boss's books; why else would he read them? In a later conversation, Zorba says that he was Hortense's greatest lover because he was able to forget all else but her when he came to call. Soon, the monk Zaharia arrives with the news that he's burned down the monastery on a mission from the Archangel Michael - but the method was all Zorba. Having killed his demon, the monk dies peacefully, but Zorba's not done with him yet.

Chapter 24 Analysis

Zorba's questioning on death causes the narrator to solidify his own theories on its meaning, and he comes up with the concept of "sacred awe" (269). In trying...