how have minerva's experiences in prison changed her? why does she feel like she has to give a "performance" of being her old self?

When Minerva got out of prison she talked about how afraid she has became, claiming “I hid my anxieties and gave everyone a bright smile. If they had only known how frail was their iron-will heroine”(259). The experiences of prison changed Minerva and she lost some of her spirit and confidence. She felt the pressure of being like her old self to prove that prison did not get to her. She felt she had to keep up appearances of her brash old self and that she could not be contained by the authorities.