She experiences affection and intimacy through Zorba’s vibrant paganism. Soon after this, she is cruelly cornered by a mob of local men and killed by Mavrandoni. Music is sacred to him. Zorba teaches the narrator that life is meant to be lived with passion and courage; he most pivotally fulfills this guidance in his decision to sleep with the widow, despite his fear and judgment of sexuality. It almost goes without saying that the two (the narrator and Zorba) will remember each other for the duration of their natural lives. Zorba’s dancing is a symbolic expression of the life spirit. The narrator seeks true worldly experience by renting out a lignite mine to run in Crete. On their way to Crete, they talk on a great number of subjects, and Zorba's soliloquies set the tone for a large part of the book. Madame Hortense is an older woman who owns a hotel on Crete and who provides housing for Zorba and the narrator when they arrive. The man enters and immediately approaches him to ask for work. It is an activity he returns to again and again as a means of catharsis and expression of feeling beyond words. The narrator absorbs a new zest for life from his experiences with Zorba and the other people around him, but reversal and tragedy mark his stay on Crete. The Friend (Stavridaki). The narrator spends Sunday roaming the island, the landscape of which reminds him of "good prose, carefully ordered, sober… powerful and restrained" and reads Dante. The year is most likely 1916. The novel was adapted into the Academy Award-winning 1964 film Zorba the Greek directed by Michael Cacoyannis starring Anthony Quinn as Zorba and Alan Bates: the film won three Academy Awards. The year is most likely 1916. Though the original Greek title was The Life and Times of Alexis Zorbas, it became known internationally as Zorba the Greek. Through conversing with him, the narrator and Zorba come to understand the futility of trying to change people's minds. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Zorba the Greek. Her life is brightened by some brief moments of happiness in the company of Zorba, but then, tired of her long and dreary life, she begins to fade away with illness. On arrival, they reject the hospitality of Anagnostis and Kondomanolious the café-owner, and on Zorba's suggestion make their way to Madame Hortense's hotel, which is nothing more than a row of old bathing-huts. Zorba gives her protection and support, and the Narrator fills her mind and imagination. Alexis Zorba, the titular character, is the Greek personification of the spirit of life. He sets off for Crete to re-open a disused lignite mine and immerse himself in the world of peasants and working-class people. This character is an object of desire for many in the village and is also blamed for one admirer's suicide. Having overcome one of his own demons (such as his internal "no," which the narrator equates with the Buddha, whose teachings he has been studying and about whom he has been writing for much of the narrative, and who he also equates with "the void") and having a sense that he is needed elsewhere (near the end of the novel, the narrator has a premonition of the death of his old friend Stavridakis, which plays a role in the timing of his departure to the mainland), the narrator takes his leave of Zorba for the mainland, which, despite the lack of any major outward burst of emotionality, is significantly emotionally wrenching for both Zorba and the narrator. Karayannis is a friend and former student of the narrator. His sterile intellectual sensibility, however, is slowly transformed by his novel experiences. The narrator is fascinated by Zorba's lascivious opinions and expressive manner and decides to employ him as a foreman. The villagers mostly dislike this strange, clown-like character who spouts random wisdom. This character is the narrator's closest friend with whom he writes letters. Stavridaki's comment to the narrator calling him a "bookworm" makes a great impact and is a driving force for the narrator to move to Crete and start a more grounded business venture. On arrival, they reject the hospitality of Anagnostis and Kondomanolious the café-owner, and on Zorba's suggestion make their way to Madame Hortense's hotel, which is nothing more than a row of old bathing-huts. everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Zorba the Greek. He loses a fight with another character which prevents him from executing one person. Copyright © 1999 - 2020 GradeSaver LLC. The narrator is a young English writer (Basil) who has acquired the Greek mining enterprise from a distance. He lives in northern Africa and has disowned his Greek identity. Despite his renunciation of spiritual ideals, Zorba is not at all immune to falling deeply into issues of life and death; what differentiates him from the narrator is that he does not try to rationalize his emotions through mental concepts. He believes in the primacy of the senses over moral and intellectual faculties. The novel was adapted into the successful 1964 film of the same name directed by Michael Cacoyannis as well as a stage musical and a BBC radio play. Quite frequently Zorba works long hours and requests not to be interrupted while working. It was also adapted into a 1968 musical, Zorba[2] as well as a 1993 two-part radio play, Zorba the Greek[3], part of the BBC's Classic Serial radio series, starring Robert Stephens as Zorba and Michael Maloney. It was the 17th highest-grossing film of 1964. Alienated by the villagers' harshness and amorality, he eventually returns to the mainland once his and Zorba's ventures are completely financially spent. Unnamed throughout the book, the narrator is scholar who is constantly chastised by his friends for valuing books over first-hand experience. His one-night stand with a beautiful passionate widow is followed by her public decapitation. Zorba the Greek (Greek: Βίος και Πολιτεία του Αλέξη Ζορμπά, Víos kai Politeía tou Aléxē Zorbá, Life and Times of Alexis Zorbas) is a novel written by the Cretan author Nikos Kazantzakis, first published in 1946. Zaharia is a monk that the narrator and Zorba meet at the mountainside monastery. It is the tale of a young Greek intellectual who ventures to escape his bookish life with the aid of the boisterous and mysterious Alexis Zorba. The man enters and immediately approaches him to ask for work. Zorba gives her the pet-name "Bouboulina" (likely inspired by the Greek heroine) while he takes the pet-name "Canavaro" (after real-life Admiral Canevaro, a past lover claimed by Hortense). For much of the story, the narrator is working on a lengthy manuscript about the life of the Buddha, until a moment of epiphany reveals to him the deadening quality of such idealistic philosophies; by advocating for transcendence of earthly life, the narrator feels that the human condition is being negated. The narrator and Zorba have a great many lengthy conversations, about a variety of things, from life to religion, each other's past and how they came to be where they are now, and the narrator learns a great deal about humanity from Zorba that he otherwise had not gleaned from his life of books and paper. It is only the contagious spark of life within Zorba that ignites her own passion for living and allows her to die with a smile dancing on her lips. When he goes to the city to buy tree-harvesting equipment, he easily becomes sidetracked and spends most of his boss’s money on women and wine. She rejects them all with disdain. Now in old age, she finds comfort mostly in reminiscing about her past. Zorba the Greek Character List Alexis Zorba. The book opens in a café in Piraeus, just before dawn on a gusty autumn morning. Nikos Kazantzakis. Mavrandoni is another village elder. His full spectrum of experiences—including fighting in wars and losing a child—has made him averse to the sort of detached philosophizing of the narrator. Originally from Macedonia, Zorba has traveled all over the world and accrued an array of rich experiences that have become the fodder for his constant storytelling. Zorba the Greek (Greek: Βίος και Πολιτεία του Αλέξη Ζορμπά, Víos kai Politeía tou Aléxē Zorbá, Life and Times of Alexis Zorbas) is a novel written by the Cretan author Nikos Kazantzakis, first published in 1946. Yet although he doubts the heavenly realm, Zorba is not painted as a man who is lacking morals or compassion for his fellow humans; this is most obvious in the way he scolds the narrator for playing a trick on Madame Hortense and agreeing to marry the old woman in order to not break her heart. She is young and beautiful. The novel was adapted into the Academy Award-winning 1964 film Zorba the Greek directed by Michael Cacoyannis starring Anthony Quinn as Zorba and Alan Bates: the film won three Academy Awards. He hangs around the widow and does many of her errands. © 2020 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The narrator is fascinated by Zorba's lascivious opinions and expressive manner and decides to employ him as a foreman.
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