The Second Bend In The River

The Second Bend In The River by Ann Rinaldi is a story of love between two different people from two different worlds. Rebecca Galoway, a girl raised up in a proper American family, has secretly harbored special feelings towards Tecumseh, a tribal chief of the Shawnee natives. Rebecca first saw Tecumseh when she was seven years old. At first she was afraid of him because she has heard bad things about Indians but Tecumseh proved to be different. She taught him how to speak proper English, while the chief on the other hand taught her things about nature. At the age of sixteen, Rebecca found out that her friendship with the Shawnee leader has developed into love. Tecumseh loved her in return and asked her father her hand in marriage. Sadly though, they lived worlds apart. Not only did they have a big age difference but also their people was always at war with each other. White men were always suspicious about the Indians. Indians were mutually enraged with the white men as well. The two loved each other so badly that they bled with the realization that they could never be united by marriage. Neither of them wanted to be acculturated by the other. Rebecca wanted to remain in her so-called civilized-white-world, completely different from that of Tecumseh's. The Shawnee chief on the other hand couldn't leave his tribe and live like a white man. Rebecca honored Tecumseh's heritage that both of them decided that it was better off to be apart and sacrifice the love they had for each other.

The Second Bend In The River is a story of the beauty of a taboo kind of love. It is a story of love acknowledged, love denied and love lost. In the end, both of them had to make the right decision, not for their own selfish intentions but for the common good. To only think of themselves would bring dishonor, so it was better for them to declare the love they had for each other with nature as their witness but to never speak of it again. Rebecca and Tecumseh shared a passionate kiss to seal their love. They parted ways and Rebecca soon married another person out of practical reasons. Tecumseh never married again and he died in battle. Rebecca was deeply saddened with Tecumseh's death. Deep in her heart she will always love him, just like how Tecumseh loved her deeply in return by declaring his love at the second bend of the river.

"I'm bleeding, I thought. Inside me I'm cut and bleeding because he has come back and the joy of it is so sharp. And I know he'll go away again. And already I feel the pain." - Rebecca

" . . . I was busy thinking that if I had and Indian name it would be Break Into Pieces. Because that's what my heart did every time Tecumseh smiled at me." - Rebecca

"The room seemed to tilt around me. I was sure it wasn't the room's fault. The world was tilting. Marry him? I was flooded with a warm feeling of completeness, of knowing I would never be unsure of anything again." - Rebecca