The basic theme of Kazantzakis’s novel, The Last Temptation of Christ , is the conflict between the body and the soul or, in the words of the novelist himself, “the struggle between God and man.” “A weak soul does not have the endurance to resist the flesh for very long,” says Kazantzakis in the Preface. “It grows heavy, becomes flesh itself, and the contest ends. But among responsible men… the conflict between flesh and spirit breaks out mercilessly and may last until death.” (emphasis added) Kazantzakis explored this theme with slight variations in many novels. In The Last Temptation , Jesus overcomes the temptations of the flesh by courting death. In Saint Francis , the eponymous protagonist overcomes his fleshly desires through rigorous mortification. Zorba, in Zorba the Greek , subscribes to a unique version of the Buddhist middle path by blending the body and the soul in his own pragmatic way. “God and devil are one and the same thing!” Zorba declares repe
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