When the Elephants Dance

When the Elephants Dance is Filipino-American writer Tess Uriza Holthe’s first novel. Published in 2002, it is based on Holthe’s father’s experiences growing up in the Philippines during World War II. The novel centers around a group of friends and neighbors seeking shelter in a cellar and sharing traditional moralistic Filipino legends that illustrate their resilience and the importance of stories for survival. The title is taken from a saying offered by one of the characters: “When the elephants dance, the chickens must be careful.” The “elephants” of the novel are the warring Japanese and Americans, using the Philippines as a battleground. The “chickens” are the civilian Filipinos endangered by their actions. This study guide is based on the 2003 Penguin paperback edition.

Plot Summary

It is early 1945, the waning months of World War II. The Philippines has been devasted by three years of Japanese occupation. American forces have begun a long and difficult land war to free the islands. That military campaign is complicated by loosely organized guerilla forces of Filipinos determined to wrest the island, after centuries of unchecked colonization, from all foreign occupation. 

A group of neighbors who have gone into hiding, trapped in a cellar by the war raging around them.