Greg Mortenson was widely known for building schools for children in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He portrayed himself to be a charitable and honest man, but in reality he was deceitful and cowardly. Mortenson was accused of publishing false accounts of his accomplishments and struggles into his novel. Many of Greg Mortensons claims in Three Cups of Tea are false and call all of his accomplishments into question.
In order to gain sympathy and attention, Mortenson fabricated many stories within his novel. He first catches the public’s attention by depicting himself to be a weak, helpless man who failed to climb K2 and then lost his way on his descent, stumbling into a village called Korphe. In reality, this was not the case at all. According
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to Jon Krakauer “In fact, Mortenson would not even make the acquaintance of Haji Ali, or anyone else in Korphe, until more than a year later, in October 1994, under entirely different circumstances” (Three Cups of Deceit). He also never lost his way he was with his group who safely escorted him down the mountain. When they arrived at the bottom they then went to the village of Khane not Korphe. Once Mortenson saw the lack of education in Khane, he promised to come back and build a school there. A year later, he returned however he broke the promise to Khane and decided to build a school in Korphe, where he first met his good friend Haji Ali. Mortensons account in Three Cups of Tea of his experience in Korphe was far from the truth. Mortenson created an image of himself as a heroic figure by adding another fictional story into his nonfiction novel. He writes that he was held captive by the Taliban for 8 days. The only reason he was released was because he promised to build a school in their area. This may have been a great obstacle to overcome, except that he was never kidnapped. In fact the alleged kidnappers were actually his protectors. This is proven by 60 Minutes; they say that Mortenson was holding an Ak-47 in a photograph taken with his supposed kidnappers. CBS news also said that after talking with his kidnappers they all claim that they were nothing but nice to Mortenson (60 Minutes). They are not even Taliban; Mortenson fabricated the whole story to get attention and sympathy from the public. Another false claim by Greg Mortenson was the number of schools he built. Mortenson built many school however, many were proven to be useless. The Central Asia Institute built about 141 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Around 30 schools were checked out and half were empty or not receiving funds at all. Some of them were being used for storage as well. (60 minutes). Mortenson did what many people were not determined enough to do, he raised money to build schools, however, the accomplishment of educating children was honorable and appreciated enough so lying to people for sympathy was unnecessary. Mortenson continued to mislead people with another alarming accusation.
He began the CAI in order to create an opportunity for people to make donations to build schools for children in Pakistan and Afghanistan. People were impressed with the idea however, what they were not aware of, was exactly what their money was being used for. The CAI lacked overview and rarely issued financial statements. The American Institute of Philanthropy investigated CAI and realized the non-profit charity spends more money promoting books and advertising for schools then they do actually constructing schools. According to 60 Minutes in 2009, the charity spent $1.5 million on advertising to promote Mortensons books and $1.3 million on travel expenses and private jets. The donations made to the CAI were more often used for Mortensons personal business affairs then to educate …show more content…
children. Mortenson repeatedly lied about his accomplishments and there were many consequences that followed.
Several major donors withdrew their support from the CAI because of the allegations made against Mortenson. Not only did people stop donating but the employees complained that the charity was too disorganized. A former employee referred to the CAI as Mortenson’s “personal ATM” (Kirchick). The first half of Mortenson’s book explains why he was inspired to build schools and how he overcame obstacles to get where he is. He captured the reader’s hearts with his story about how he arrived to Korphe and then once again when he was kidnapped. The readers were able to relate and sympathize with him however, in reality it was all a lie. Mortenson gained followers and fans through his tragic stories in his book and now that his lies are out he is losing respect from everyone. Mortenson began hurting the charity more than he was able to help. His lies not only led to fewer donations but also to the suicide of his co author David Oliver Relin. He committed suicide because he was overwhelmed and drowning in the lies that Mortenson created (Daly). Mortenson spun a web of lies and Relin was unfortunately trapped in them. He had no part in the fabrication of the book and he could not handle the pressure. Mortenson’s lies ultimately led to the death of Relin. Lastly, his lies led to innocent people being harassed for committing a crime they didn’t commit. The alleged kidnappers were
Mortensons protectors and never harmed him. He ruined the reputation of innocent people and ruined his reputation as well. Building schools for children was impressive enough he didn’t have to lie about the number of schools, or a kidnapping, or the people he met, people would have respected him whether he built ten schools or two because either way he did something that most people haven’t. Many of Greg Mortenson’s accounts of his time overseas are false and call all of his achievements into question. His work in Pakistan and Afghanistan is impressive however, the lies he created overpower the work he accomplished. He used money from the CAI for his personal affairs, he lied about how many schools he built and how many were actually usable, he discontinued providing for many other schools, he ruined innocent people’s lives by accusing them of kidnapping him, and he continuously lied about his whereabouts. Greg Mortenson is a man of deceit and does not deserve credit for his work; he should be remembered as a greedy, selfish man who robbed children of a quality education.
Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea demonstrated many conflict types. It showed his struggle through problems such as problems with nature, other people, himself, and against society. Jon Krakauer's Three Cups of Deceit brought even more conflicts Mortenson's way as the truth was revealed about his Three Cups of Tea. What were these problems, and how did they affect Mortenson?
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What do you think the writer wants his/her readers to think and/or do after reading this book?
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