Quote, explanation, and analysis on In the Time of Butterflies, Chapter 11

It happens here all the time. Every day and night there’s at least one breakdown – someone loses control and starts to scream or sob or moan. Minerva says it’s better letting yourself go – not that she ever does. The alternative is freezing yourself up, never showing what you’re feeling, never letting on what you’re thinking… Then one day, you’re out of here, free, only to discover you’ve locked yourself up and thrown away the key somewhere too deep inside your heart to fish it out.

The above quote speaks to the way incarceration can change you foreever. You lock yourself away and mentally detach from the horrors, only to find yourself unable to find yourself when you are finally set free. In context, this means that some people are changed forever, as a result of their experiences and methods of self-protection.