God, the only Creator, created everything good. Adam and Eve experienced self-love, self-acceptance and self-esteem. Eve represents the mother of all and other than God, the person whom all humans need to love. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil represents the possibility of acting contrary to the spiritual order. God represents everything good and the serpent symbolizes the power of evil and punishment. The serpent is used many times throughout the Bible as man's downfall. "It is one of enmity that will continue throughout all generations, your seed and her seed" (Brown, "The Jerome Biblical Commentary" 13). The blessing turned into a curse. The curse was turned against man and its creatures. The serpent represents temptation. Eve could not resist his temptation. Adam could not resist his wife's persistence to eat the fruit. Prior to sin, their nakedness was normal. Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and their eyes opened. They recognized each other's nakedness and self-shame. They damaged their self-worth. What we eat becomes a part of us. Eve ate the serpent's words and acted contrary to God's laws. The fruit represents all sin, big or little. (Williams, "The Storyteller's Companion to the Bible," 37-39). .
To act against the spiritual and natural order creates chaos. It creates humans to suffer pain and eventually death. Adam and Eve could never return to their original state because to disobey God was to gain the knowledge of evil. Evil descended from selfish choice. Adam and Eve needed to obey God's laws to live in eternal paradise. The trust and love between Adam and Eve vanished. The relationship became damaged. God made Adam and Eve's situation better. God made loincloths for their naked bodies. He banned them from the Garden of Eden. This was not punishment. Punishment would be to live in the Garden of Eden with the knowledge of evil. This was not done to hurt them but to not allow them to suffer eternally (Orchard, "A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture 185-187).