Significance of The car accident

The car accident that kills Misty in the beginning represents the transition from carefree childhood to much more fraught adulthood. Up to this point, Sarah and Theo live a life that does not really contain any real concerns or issues, but they are brutally pushed into adulthood by a traumatic experience they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. To an extent, everyone probably has an event like this that makes them realize that life cannot remain as carefree as it is when we are children and teenagers.