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Three Cups Of Tea By Greg Mortenson And Relin

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The Overshadowing Truth Multiple lies can easily turn any righteous act into a worthless one. In the popular novel Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Relin, the superficial eye might consider Mortenson a respectable and honorable man, but a deeper investigation proves otherwise. Mortenson paints himself as a hero in his book, Three Cups of Tea, but the truth of the matter exceeds his accomplishments as he deceptively tells exciting stories throughout his book, dishonorably extends his endeavors to glorify his own public image, and intentionally abuses the power he possesses in his charity. Three Cups of Tea begins with a breathtaking story of how Mortenson finds the village of Korphe and ultimately promises to build the children …show more content…

Krakauer hits Mortenson’s motive dead center when he explains, Mortenson lies “to inflate the myth of Greg Mortenson, ‘the astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones, and his remarkable humanitarian campaign in the Taliban’s backyard,’ as the back cover of Three Cups of Tea puts it” (18). An example of this “inflation” is covered in the 60 Minutes interview when it is said that Mortenson tells Charlie Rose that he built eleven schools in Kunar Province, instead of the reality of three (Kroft). It is clear that Mortenson craves the praise of the public and will make up any lies or exaggerate to astound people. Furthermore, what most people do not know about Mortenson’s schools is that not only does he lie about the number built, but the conditions of them are lied about as well. Out of the one hundred forty two schools that the Central Asia Institute (CAI) supposedly built, many are not being used, or if they are, it is for other reasons, such as storage. Multiple schools are not affiliated with CAI anymore as the schools do not obtain aid from Mortenson’s foundation. There are some schools that are mentioned by the CAI that could not even be found, and others that could actually be located, are not in good condition (Kroft). There definitely are various forms of miscommunications and disorganization present in the CAI, however Mortenson does an adequate job at keeping those realities hidden from the

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