Racism
The siege of Sarajevo was precipitated by racist gangs putting up barricades around the city to divide people across the city by race. The gangs believed that each race should live with people of their kind and not mix in with any other race. But most of the residents of Sarajevo did not agree with that thought and removed the barriers every day, leading to an outbreak of violence by the gangs, who were upset that their racist ideas were being challenged. This violence, which was only supposed to last a few weeks, lasted for years and killed nearly 15,000 people. This shows the ridiculousness of racism and emphasizes the importance of being inclusive with everyone, no matter their ethnic background. Had the gangs not acted out their racist beliefs, those lives would have been saved, buildings would not have been damaged, and Bosnia and Herzegovina (the country Sarajevo is located in) would not have been as weak and divided.
Love
Right before the outbreak of violence in Sarajevo, Zora sends her husband and daughter to London, where they will be safe. Although she is crestfallen to see her family leave, she decides to send them away because she loves them dearly. She is willing to sacrifice her comfort to ensure her family is safely in London. Love is perhaps the most important theme in Black Butterflies. It informs many of the characters' decisions (especially the parents featured in the novel) and teaches readers with an important message: that love, in all of its forms, win. After all, love and kindness saved the lives of so many people caught up in the siege of Sarajevo and ultimately ended the conflict.
Resilience
Initially, after violence breaks out in Sarajevo, Zora tells her friends and family that she suspects the violence will only last a few weeks. She thought that waves of violence would occur and then be quickly quelled by Bosnian security forces. However, Zora quickly discovered that the violence would last much longer than she had initially thought, shocking and disheartening. As the violence in Sarajevo continued and her life got harder (e.g., food got scarcer and supplies got harder to procure), Zora remained strong and resilient throughout it all. She was the physical and emotional bedrock for the people around her, who relied on her to prosper despite living through difficult times. If she was not resilient, Zora would likely have succumbed to depression and died from that depression or the violence around her.
