Analysis Of Three Cups Of Tea By Greg Mortenson

Greg Mortenson’s story of survival, hope, education, and charity in his memoir Three Cups of Tea has captured the hearts of millions of readers across the globe. In 2011, book’s authenticity was challenged and Mortenson’s falsehoods were pointed out. Although some try to defend the author, the severity of the lies and exaggerations told by Greg Mortenson in Three Cups of Tea and other speaking engagements outweigh the few good acts he actually did.

The lies start right from the first chapter. Through co-author David Oliver Relin, Mortenson depicts the horrors of his failed ascent to the peak of K2 and how he got lost from his climbing group and stumbled across Korphe village. Upon arrival in Korphe, he claims to have been taken in by the village chieftain, Haji Ali, and nursed back to health as a guest of honor. Once partially recovered, Mortenson talks about his visit to the village’s school - or lack thereof - and

his noble promise to Ali to build an actual school for the kids. All of that is a great story, except there is not an ounce of truth to it. As John Krakauer explains in his book Three Cups of Deceit, the attempt to reach the summit of K2 was deserted and Mortenson, along with his companion Scott Darsney, stayed in the comforts of a hotel for a number of days. Their next destination was the village of Akhmalu, to visit a friend. It was here that Mortenson made his promise to build a school, not in Korphe. There is even record of Mortenson himself affirming this in an article he wrote for the American Himalayan Foundation’s newsletter. He said in 1994, “…So I made the commitment to help realize a school and a clinic in Khane” (7-8). Right there is concrete evidence showing the inconsistency between what was said in the book and what is actually true.
When the people of Khane confronted Mortenson about building the school in their village as he promised, he denied their claim and called them “greedy shysters for trying to hold him to the pledge he made in his sister’s name” (Krakauer 10).

This shows that Mortenson will not admit to his dishonesties and will continue to lie to support his ever-growing ego. Another account in which he lies is when he claims to have been captured by the Taliban while visiting the Wazirstan region with native Badam Gul in 1996. As James Kirchick notes in his article “The Con Man and His Pet Columnist,” the Taliban wasn’t established in that area at that point. In fact, the Taliban did not exist there until 2001 (2). That shows a clear discrepancy that cannot be ignored. Gul helped Mortenson get into the restricted native lands and was repayed by being portrayed as a sly con man who led him to the Taliban where he was held against his will. It is evident that Mortenson had no regard for those who helped him achieve his dream of becoming a world-renowned

humanitarian.
It is not only people that Mortenson has no regard for, but also the millions of dollars in donations sent in by readers who felt inspired by the story and wanted to do all they could to help the children of Pakistan get an education. To be exact, over $50 million dollars have been donated to the Central Asia Institute (Krakauer 3), which is the organization run by Mortenson that funds the school building projects. Where does that money go exactly? No one is sure, because of a major lack of transparency in the CAI’s financial reports. According to John Krakauer’s interview with CBS 60 Minutes, only one financial statement was released in a 14 year span. One would think an institute with million-dollar donations would want to keep a clear report of its income and spending - unless the money was being misused. That seems to be the case with Mortenson: a CAI treasurer resigned in 2002 and stated Mortenson “uses the CAI as his personal ATM” (Krakauer 10). What is known about the CAI’s finances is that it collects no money from book sales or speaking engagements (Mortenson collects $30,000 per lecture), yet $1.7 million dollars were spent on purchasing books, $1.5 million dollars were spent on advertising, and $1.3 million dollars were spent on domestic travel for Mortenson, sometimes on private jets, in 2010. Donors want to give money to benefit the children’s education, not to let Mortenson travel the country in comfort while he collects millions of dollars from his memoir and lectures.
Some donors and supporters continue to defend Mortenson despite the allegations against him. Two of these people are Scott Darsney, Mortenson’s climbing partner, and Nicholas Kristof (who are described in “Scott Darsney Questions the Accuracy and Fairness of John Krakauer’s Three Cups of Deceit” and “The Con Man and His Pet Columnist,” respectively). Darsney was interviewed by Krakauer and his statements are included in Krakauer’s Three Cups of Deceit, but he claims he was misunderstood by Krakauer and stands by Mortenson on some of the issues. Both men’s main argument defending Mortenson is that he still built schools and still helped children, regardless of the dishonesties in his book. That issue is beside the point- Mortenson lied multiple times to defend his ego and seem like a saint-like humanitarian. That in of itself is enough to discredit his work. On top of ruining his charity, another consequence was one much graver: the death of co-author David Relin, ruled as suicide. In the article written by Michael Daly, Relin is presented as whole-heartedly believing in Mortenson and his work as he “began the sometimes pleasurable, sometimes infuriating process of chasing Greg Mortenson all over the world” (4). If the truth had just been told, Relin would still be here today.
Regardless of how many schools he built, Mortenson should not have had to lie and exaggerate if his true intent was solely to help those less fortunate. The dishonesties overshadow his acts of charity and cause the public to truly question his motives.