When the Elephants Dance

Isabelle, Alejandro’s 17-year-old sister, takes over the narration. An accomplished student before the war, Isabelle plans a career as a doctor despite her patriarchal culture that dismisses women’s independence as dangerous. Indeed, she has feuded that morning with her mother over her plans. At the threshold age of 17, she struggles as well with her infatuation with Domingo, the charismatic rebel leader. She is drawn by his wavy hair and fiery eyes despite knowing that his wife, Lorna, and his two children are among the cellar refugees.

Her narrative returns us to the previous day. Isabelle, scavenging for food, witnesses the Japanese soldiers rounding up both her younger brother and Domingo. Hiding in bushes, she watches helplessly as her brother is tortured. Then she sees the soldiers lead Domingo off. They first gore him with knives and then shoot him, leaving him for dead. However, Domingo is alive. Bleeding profusely, he begs anyone for help. Isabelle is conflicted: “I hate him for making me feel guilty. What has he ever done but worry his wife and cast suspicion and danger upon our house? […] Yet even as my mind thinks this, my feet are running back to him” (118).