The Children's Blizzard Analysis

Tragedy:

An Event Causes Strong Feelings of Sadness

David Laskin’s The Children’s Blizzard is a heart wrenching story based upon the Great Blizzard of 1888, which was appropriately titled the The Children's Blizzard because of “the 213 children across the Great Plains who died in its wake” (Beccy Tanner). Many immigrants took the big step of journeying out west, seeking the promising lifestyle it offered. The government would give these migrants a set amount of acreage for only a small fee as encouragement, so the empty land could be put to use. At this period in time, “It was the age of confidence. Arrogance was epidemic” (Laskin 5). Many people believed they knew all there was to know, especially the meteorologists of the era. Their oversight

and incompetence, would later cost them the lives of hundreds of people.

The blizzard of 1888 was unanticipated by the meteorologists, leaving the migrants who had ventured out to the midwest, without any precise warnings or means of communication to notify them of severe weather, let alone a blizzard that would come to be known as the Great Blizzard of 1888. That day, many school children walked to school without their cold-weather wear, because the temperature was warm enough for them to do so. Some children were released from their schoolhouses destined for their homes before the blizzard began its reign, not knowing the trepidation they would face. This problem was not just for the children, but for others who had begun their day, not knowing that a petrifying blizzard would wreck havoc on their lives. David Laskin’s The Children’s Blizzard illustrates a tragedy. A tragedy could be an event that is caused by a terrible situation that results in utter chaos and destruction. According to Merriam-Webster, a tragedy is a very sad, unfortunate, or upsetting

situation, that causes strong feelings of sadness or regret.
The Great Blizzard of 1888, began abruptly, dropping temperatures from 42 degrees to 6 degrees, increasing wind speeds up to 50 miles per hour, and dense snowfall that incapacitated the human eye from seeing within 10 feet. All of this happened within a matter of minutes. Johann, Heinrich, and Elias Kaufman, Peter Graber, and Johann Albrecht endured four hours of these treacherous conditions on their long trek to seek shelter. Although they managed for a short time, their bodies began to shut down due to the development of severe hypothermia, that their bodies simply weren’t functioning ordinarily. This slowly destroyed the boys, one by one, until they could no longer focus or had no energy to carry on.
One by one, they collapsed onto the frozen ground. With his last surge of will, Johann raised himself and wrapped Elias in his arms. As the snow conducted heat away from their bodies, their heartbeats slowed to an occasional twitch. The boys lost consciousness. Beyond both hope and fear, they felt nothing at all (Laskin 196).
The boys had remained together throughout the entire blizzard, never leaving one another behind. If one couldn't walk, the other would carry them. The boys’ loyalty among each other, led them to their death throes. The boys perished that day. After the storm cleared, search and rescuers uncovered their bodies, which were found all huddling close and frozen together, allowing their circle to remain unbroken. The families of the boys were stricken with grief and they didn’t have the heart to separate each of them, so the boys were all buried together, just as they had been found. The boys unbeknownst, were released into a severe winter storm, all by themselves to find shelter, and ended up losing their lives all due to a blizzard that wasn’t expected. Their story is tragic, because the boys would have never died if there had been some type of warning or prediction, but there was none, and the boys paid for it with their lives leaving their family to grieve over their lost sons.
Many of the victims of the Great Blizzard of 1888 managed to survive the night, only to get up, and die the next morning. These victims suffered from cardiac arrest. According to the American Heart Association, cardiac arrest is when the heart begins to beat irregularly and instigates ventricular fibrillation which can lead to sudden death. Jesse Beadel suffered a first hand account of this illness. Jesse Beadel and his grandmother managed to find shelter beneath their overturned sleigh and survive the meticulous storm. They hid behind the sleigh to remove the wind from blowing towards them. After it began to clear, Jesse spotted a house in the distance and decided to pursue it, to see if they could offer a safe haven. Jesse’s idea for a sure survival ultimately cost him his life.
At dawn Jesse saw a house about half a mile away and he told his grandmother to wait for him in the shelter while he went for help. He pulled himself to his feet… Jesse managed to stagger most of the way to the house before he collapsed. He, too, died in moments (Laskin 207).
Jesse had used all of his remaining strength to go and search for warmer shelter, not knowing that he would be using his last ounces of strength to lead him to his tragic, untimely death.
Many families didn’t know where their spouses or children were and were forced to delay their searches due to the severity of the weather. After the storm dissipated, many households began the zealous search to find their loved ones. John Jensen left his wife and children unattended to shovel snow off of the well when the harsh blizzard struck. He was separated from his wife and children for seven hours, and wandered until he came upon his neighbor’s home. After the storm cleared, he began his trek back to his home. Once he arrived, he discovered his wife and daughter frozen to death, but his baby still remained alive. “After discovering the bodies of his wife and daughter, Jensen walked two miles to his brother Andrew’s house with the baby in his arms. When Andrew heard what happened he asked, “What did you do, John? “I cared for the living”, was his reply” (Laskin 220). The blizzard took the lives of Jensen’s wife and children, and this was true for many whom had withstood this dreadful storm. His baby will never know its mother or sister that were taken from it during the storm. They will never quite understand how rare it was that a newborn survived the harsh blizzard and yet its older counterparts did not. Forcefully broken families all experienced this same concept of attempting to move on during a tragic situation, which evoked strong emotions of grief, the survivors not knowing yet how to overcome this newly given adversity.
David Laskin’s The Children’s Blizzard illustrates a tragedy.

A definition of tragedy could be an event that was caused by a terrible event that results in utter chaos and destruction, but according to Merriam-Webster, a tragedy is a very sad, unfortunate, or upsetting situation, that causes strong feelings of sadness or regret. Many of the people who were caught outdoors when the storm struck, suffered tremendously, whether it was themselves or others. Many of the victims suffered a hypothermic death, like the Schweizer boys who had been forced to halt their journey indefinitely, as a result of the cold temperatures and frigid wind, infiltrating their bodies. Others managed to survive the bitter night, by seeking shelter, then later roving the land to find a warmer place, and yet still perished due to cardiac arrest, like Jesse Beadel. Or like John Jensen, who was trapped outside in the blizzard, and managed to find shelter and survive, but his wife and daughter died frozen inside of his home, leaving him and his newborn daughter by themselves. The people in the Midwest had no warnings as to the desolation that would come. They didn't anticipate seeing their sons or daughters for the last time or their children taking their final, shuddering breaths. Fathers and mothers were forced to grieve for their lost children and orphans grieved the loss of their parents as a result of this storm. It brought about a great sense of sadness and regret among all who suffered from the

Great Blizzard of 1888. David Laskin’s The Children’s Blizzard is the epitome of tragedy. Many dead children were discovered among the Great Plains, frozen to death, because they didn’t make it home. Many adults were outside tending to chores, and were discovered frozen to death just yards away from their house. The Children’s Blizzard is filled with deaths of many who were given a miniscule chance to survive and didn’t. The Children’s Blizzard is a tragedy that will always be apart of United States History