48 pages • 1 hour read
Nikos KazantzakisZorba the Greek
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1946A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 4-6 Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 4 Summary
Zorba spends the night with Hortense and returns in the morning. The narrator smokes and remembers when he and his friend saw a statue of Rembrandt's The Man with the Golden Helmet. The narrator thinks of both meaning and lack of meaning. Zorba scolds the narrator for leaving without offering Hortense “compliments” (46). Zorba claims all women want to be desired and recalls wooing a girl as a young man, while a neighboring eighty-year-old woman put on airs. When Zorba had lashed out at her for being pathetic, she’d cursed him and died shortly thereafter, blaming him. Now sixty-five, Zorba regrets it, as he is still interested in pursuing women.
This makes the narrator remember seeing a work of art where a hand held the embracing figures of a man and woman, called The Hand of God. A girl had been looking at it beside the narrator, and the narrator asked for her thoughts. The girl told him that the sculpture made her want freedom more than love, and that she would wish to escape the hand. The narrator responded that perhaps obeying the hand represents freedom, but the girl didn’t understand, and the narrator felt he had been too abstract.
The next day, the narrator and Zorba build a hut where they will stay during their time in Crete. The days pass and Zorba throws himself into the work. Hortense attempts to attract Zorba’s attention, but Zorba is now completely focused on the work at the mine. They fall into an arrangement where Zorba supervises the work and the narrator pays the bills. This makes the narrator feel as if he is emulating his maternal grandfather, who used to offer strangers hospitality in exchange for their stories. The narrator continues to find Zorba’s stories, his questions, and his general perspective refreshing. At first the narrator tries to approach the workers and come to know them, but Zorba warns him to keep his distance lest he “embolden people” (66). The narrator continues pondering his anxiety and desire to make “warm clear-headed contact” with others (67).
Chapter 5 Summary
Zorba and the narrator are invited to village elder Uncle Anagnosti’s house for a meal of pig penis to celebrate the birthday of his grandson. Anagnosti, despite being hard-of-hearing, has led “a good life” and expresses village wisdom in fatalistic terms. He explains that his own hearing problems are a result of his father’s disrespect toward the Virgin. Anagnosti affirms that he is content with his lot. As they talk, Zorba admits he feels sympathy for the castrated pig, and Anagnosti laughs.
As they return to their lodgings, Zorba mentions that the narrator’s hopes to educate the rural populace would end in failure, and that it would be best to leave them to their traditions and values, “leave their eyes closed; that way they can keep dreaming” (73). The narrator thinks that Zorba’s lack of formal education makes solutions easy for him to find, while intellectuals like the narrator struggle. He goes to sit by himself, anxious. He thinks he hears the voice of the Buddha and sets off to write, spending a sleepless night in feverish productivity.
Chapter 6 Summary
In the morning, the narrator feels empty. He picks up the pages of his manuscript but doesn’t read them. He feels content. Memories of his niece mentioning growing horns bring to mind a sculpture of the Buddha with horns. Now the narrator feels that eating has a “spiritual service” (78). Zorba tells the narrator that he tries to turn what he consumes into God, but that in doing so he has lost who he is.
One night the narrator asks Zorba about his children. Zorba tells him about having a daughter and receiving a letter from his brother that revealed she has given birth to a child out of wedlock. Because she has ruined the family’s reputation, Zorba’s brother must slit her throat. Zorba does not respond to this letter, but it’s not long before another one arrives. In this one, his brother mentions that Zorba’s daughter has married. Zorba concludes that nothing more can be expected from women and men.
The narrator notices that Zorba is acting strangely and confronts him. Zorba seems anxious and says he has an idea. The narrator encourages Zorba to tell him about it, saying that the coal is only an excuse for them to be among the villagers. This makes Zorba brighten and he starts dancing, throwing himself into the act feverishly. Watching Zorba dance makes the narrator think of a story he made of his grandfather disappearing into the clouds. After Zorba stops dancing, he mentions that an overflow of emotion inexpressible through words prompted it. He recalls dancing after his son died and dancing to communicate with a Russian friend. The narrator admires Zorba’s genuine way of being.
The next day Zorba tells the narrator of his plan to set up an overhead cable to transport materials. The narrator agrees and goes to write while waiting for Zorba to finish working. Zorba says that he only needs to find the correct slope. He is in good spirits and wants to play his santuri, but the santuri, he claims, does not want to be played. He compares life to Hortense. The narrator teases him about how Hortense’s parrot calls him Canavaro, the name of the Italian admiral she had a fling with. Zorba says he feels like the admiral. He admits to feeling like his own grandfather, who lamented his age and closeness to death when there were so many beautiful women to sleep with.
Chapters 4-6 Analysis
The conflict between the narrator’s abstract mind and the reality of village life continues. On one hand, the narrator feels that he is approaching authentic experience through his interactions with Zorba. This reminds him of his grandfather, a provincial figure who asked visitors to tell him tales, much like the narrator does with Zorba. However, the narrator remembers his inability to communicate with a girl who had appreciated a sculpture alongside him. The narrator’s inability to communicate with her contrasts with Zorba’s ability to communicate across cultural divides, as seen in his interaction with the Russian man.
Unlike the narrator, Zorba shuns words in favor of actions like dancing. This is why Zorba reacts skeptically to the narrator’s desire to educate the villagers when the narrator attempts to know the workers at the mine and after their dinner with Uncle Anagnosti. The workmen would only take advantage of the narrator, and if he were to try to educate Anagnosti, he would rob the village elder of his contentment with his worldview and circumstances.
The narrator appreciates how Zorba remains detached from the villagers around him without actively avoiding them, unlike the narrator. Even in moments where Zorba should feel put off by those around him, he manages to connect with them instead. For instance, even though the narrator thinks Zorba should feel ruffled when Hortense’s parrot calls him by the name of her former lover, Zorba does not find it off-putting. Instead, it makes Zorba feel like the lover, and thus connected to Hortense. This ability to find affinities with different people is part of Zorba’s authenticity.
