It is important because this is what pulls everything all together. This is where the main character is introduced and the character that is telling him an important story is introduced as well
“We can’t tell them anything”, I said, without thinking.
This is proper because when a person says something in the novel these (“”) must be used to isolate their words.
Look at this example as well:
According to Abraham Lincoln, “America will never be destroyed on the outside”. This means _________
Revoked and canceled because why fake it