Zorba the Greek

 

I started to read this book right after, " invisible women", needless to say at first I was so enraged by how the author and Zorba described women. Feeble, stupid spices who are the happiest when they have a man and want nothing more than that in their whole life.

But for me the purpose of reading is greater than a truth in my head. OK, I know women are not like that, I can argue a thousand way but let's hear Zorba out. Let him tell me how men saw and sometimes still see women. Let him tell me his side of story so I can understand better.

The book is about the friendship of two men. One fascinated by knowledge acquired with paper, the other with living it first hand. It's about the battle between living life "fully" as the author describes it whereas reading about it. The Boss or the scholar gets mocked continuously for his passion or the way he prefers to experience the world and sometimes he feels it too. Others tell him his knowledge is lacking cause he is not actually living but just reading about it.

So there comes Zorba, who has lived and existed in more than one way. He fought wars, killed, stole, raped, loved, got married, had children and buried one. He has traveled to different corners of earth, knowing nothing about foreign languages, and relied on his body language including dancing. When you look at it, yes, it seems like a full life. For Zorba and I want to add, for Men.

Yes, cause if you're a woman, doing all that becomes really difficult, trust me. No not impossible but much more difficult. While Zorba could marry different women, getting them pregnant and leaving them after a warm meal and good sex, the female had to take responsibility and stay behind, taking care of the mess. It seems Zorba starts to show kindness to women at the end, by lying to them, thank u very much. And the story seems unfazed by the beheading a woman.

That saddens me but I also think that's how Kazantzakis wanted to show it. Like the way it happened in his community. Cause if it truly didn't matter or if he didn't want to tease the idea of the unbalance in the society, he wouldn't have mentioned it at all. He would not even think about it.

One some level, Kazantzakis decides to interduce the idea but by doing it the opposite way, meaning, he writes the extreme of an action which is the fruit of a concept. So females are so worthless, why not behead them? why not leave them behind at seashores when we're done having fun?? Oh yes let's plunder all their belongings the moment they drop dead, doesn't matter.

 A fine and funny point actually is where we see these are the grannies of the village who are mostly doing the plunder! Yes, keep the women poor, so they will steal from each other, whether it's wealth or a man. That is when sleeping with a man, or getting married becomes a woman's financial source, a way to exist, so as we see in the story , it becomes a value for the society as well. Women are not allowed to exist outside that frame. We keep them in the frame, kill whoever denies it and shame those who resist.

Zorba is not perfect. Should not be in fact. He is a symbol of life. "The Boss" hires Zorba mostly to hear the stories, have good conversation and watch Zorba live the way he wants to, raw and without filter while studying it, observing the whole time. But even in the end, he doesn't want to be Zorba or live the way he does.

The scholar, reaches deeper and darker parts of himself but doesn't engage with them. A battle between one's critical and conscious mind and more primitive self who desires is reflected in the friendship between Zorba and the scholar.

"An old fogey ninety years old was planting an almond tree, 'hey grandpa' I say to him, 'are you really planting an almond tree?' And he, all bent over as he was, he turns and says to me, ' I act as though I'm never going to die.' I answered him in my turn, ' I act as though I'm going to die at any moment.'

which of the two of us was right, boss?"