The Drowned Cities by Paulo Bacigalupi is a very interesting and captivating novel about a region of what was once the United States that is now plagued by war. An important quote from the beginning of the story can be found on page 71. At this time, the two main characters, Mouse and Mahila, are sent out to look for food, but they find something unexpected. “It was not one creature, but two. Intertwined monsters. A large king alligator and another creature - something Mahila hadn't seen since the ceasefire ended and the last peacekeepers left, all running for the docks as the drowned towns returned to the war. Half a man. This is an important quote mainly because it is the first time that the narratives from Tool's perspective and the narrative from Mahila's perspective come together. This is the end of the exposition and the beginning of the rising action. So far, nothing really happened other than introducing the characters and a quick little scene for each of them. This is the first time something life-changing has happened to them (since we've known them.) It would be like when Harry Potter finds out he's a wizard, or when Katniss Everdeen is selected for the Hunger Games. This has a similar effect on the rest of the book, as both of these events impacted their respective books. Tool becomes a main character and follows Mahila for most of the rest of the book, and he saves her life countless times. If Mahila had found Tool in another way, perhaps by observing him from afar, their relationship would have ended very differently. From the way Tool respects Mahila in the book, we can tell that he has a lot of respect and adoration towards her for saving his life after she found his...... middle of paper. ..... th lines. However, I was also surprised at how quickly Tool and Ocho accepted each other as allies. While I doubt they're at the point where they would give their lives to save the other, they went from owners and captives to allies surprisingly quickly. This quote is also an example of how Paolo allows us to get inside the heads of the characters and see what they are thinking and how they react to a situation. If Ocho thought more about how he could defeat Tool again or how he could use Tool's abilities to his advantage, we would be the first to know. Not only the quote, but also the context surrounding it is important. I found it interesting that the humans were in ruins, whether literally or emotionally, and that Tool was right in the middle trying to convince Mahila and Ocho to follow him. Ocho wonders what he did and Mahila is still grieving because of Mouse..