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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does the narrator depict Madame Hortense?
(a) As intensely beautiful.
(b) Dangerous.
(c) Witchy.
(d) Comically and unattractively.

2. Zorba tells the narrator stories about the island. What kind of events does he describe?
(a) Carnivals and circuses.
(b) Feasts and birthdays.
(c) Wars and revolutions.
(d) Rape and thievery.

3. Why does the narrator say that the sexual organs may get in the way of freedom?
(a) He says that being promiscuous can keep a man from going to heaven.
(b) He says that sexual thoughts can keep a person from being productive.
(c) He says that the need to have children keeps people from living full lives.
(d) He says that clothing that doesn't fit correctly restricts freedom.

4. In Chapter 3, what is the narrator reading when Zorba asks him to come in for lunch?
(a) Virgil.
(b) The Bible.
(c) Shakespeare.
(d) Dante.

5. How does the narrator end the letter to his friend in Chapter 8?
(a) He tells him that he wishes he too were at war.
(b) He suggests they not see one another again.
(c) He reveals his plans for the mine.
(d) He tells him that he has love for him.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the narrator request of Zorba when he remains in Candia for longer than expected?

2. How does Zorba believe a man should treat a woman?

3. With whom do the narrator and Zorba enjoy Christmas Eve dinner?

4. While Zorba and the narrator are in the shop, who runs past the window?

5. What is the primary message in the book that the narrator is reading?

Short Essay Questions

1. What significance does the fact that Madame Hortense is a widow have toward the theme of manliness?

2. 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?

3. Describe the painting that Zorba presents to Madame Hortense.

4. Why is the narrator going to Crete?

5. How might Madame Hortense's romantic history challenge Zorba's concept of his own manliness?

6. What is Zorba's account of God's creation of woman?

7. At the conclusion of Chapter 2, do you think Zorba or the narrator has a more realistic outlook on how to live life?

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

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

10. Describe the first time that the narrator sees the widow.

Multiple Choice Answer Key

Short Answer Key

1. What does the narrator request of Zorba when he remains in Candia for longer than expected?

He requests that he return immediately.

2. How does Zorba believe a man should treat a woman?

He should tell her she's beautiful no matter what.

3. With whom do the narrator and Zorba enjoy Christmas Eve dinner?

Madame Hortense.

4. While Zorba and the narrator are in the shop, who runs past the window?

A beautiful widow.

5. What is the primary message in the book that the narrator is reading?

It emphasizes the virtue of possessing nothing.

Short Essay Answer Key

1. What significance does the fact that Madame Hortense is a widow have toward the theme of manliness?

Madame Hortense is a character on whom Zorba and the narrator choose instantly to rely upon for shelter. The fact that she is completely devoid of Zorba's "manliness" (as a widowed woman) and has outlived her four great lovers, admirals who could be classified as the most manly of all men, speaks to a contrasting energy of freedom neither articulated by the narrator nor by Zorba.

2. 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.

3. Describe the painting that Zorba presents to Madame Hortense.

The painting has four huge battleships on it in red, gold, gray, and black, each with a flag from one of four countries: England, France, Italy, and Russia. Leading the battleship as a siren was Madame Hortense, naked with a yellow ribbon around her neck and holding four strings attached to the ships.

4. Why is the narrator going to Crete?

The narrator is curious about the adventurous life his friend preached to him. He is going to Crete to experiment with such a life by renting a lignite mine and thus engaging more with the physical world. His overall goal in these actions is to find freedom through a marriage of the mind and body.

5. How might Madame Hortense's romantic history challenge Zorba's concept of his own manliness?

Zorba believes in living for the day and that any impediment to freedom and manliness should be removed. Because he thinks sexual relationships are the ultimate in the physical life, he is helpless against the force of her own history. She has been romanced by legendary and powerful men, and Zorba cannot do anything to remove them as competitive forces from his own life. He offers to take on Canavaro's role in her life, but he has no power or awareness of how to actually fulfill that role.

6. What is Zorba's account of God's creation of woman?

Zorba says that when God removed the rib from Adam, the devil turned into a snake and snatched the rib and ran off with it. God then chased the devil and caught him, but the devil ultimately got away while God was left holding only his horns. God then made woman out of the devil's horns rather than the rib of Adam.

7. At the conclusion of Chapter 2, do you think Zorba or the narrator has a more realistic outlook on how to live life?

I think that they have very different perspectives as distinct as two different languages. Zorba's outlook might be easier on a day-by-day basis as his doesn't require a lot of thinking through of various options and looks directly to instinct and passion. The narrator's perspective might be the more "realistic" however, in that it takes a much broader look at the many elements and their complex arrangements which come together to inform life.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Describe the first time that the narrator sees the widow.

The narrator and Zorba duck into a cafe in the middle of a rainstorm, and from here, they see the widow run past the window. The narrator immediately finds her beautiful, although there are a variety of responses to her presence, not all of them positive. Soon after, Mimiko enters and reports that the widow has lost her sheep and offers a reward to anyone who can help return it to her.