FREE ESSAY ON BOOK OF GENESIS

BOOK OF GENESIS

In the Book of Genesis, an ancient Hebrew story from the King James Bible, we are given
the account of Adam and Eve. Eve is led up the path of temptation and forced to make a
difficult decision. The outcome of her selection not only affects her own existence, but
also that of Adam and their descendants. In the story, Eve is forced to choose between
what she knows is right or what will turn out to be only a temporary pleasure. The reader
is fully aware of the role of the snake, presenter of the golden apple, an excellent
example of the archetypal character the temptress. The apple is the forbidden fruit, the
irresistible pleasure, what the decision-maker is fully aware of being the obviously
wrong choice, and yet can't help but have one taste, perhaps to get a rebellious high,
perhaps out of curiosity. Or perhaps the character is just plain ignorant. Whatever the
motives of Eve and all others in the wrong, it is soon revealed that the easiest choice
to make is not always the best. Eve's acceptance of the apple served to show her own
weakness and insecurity in what she believed was just. She deceived the very being who
created her, the ever-famous cliche of bite the hand that feeds you. She traded in a life
of eternal happiness in the Garden of Eden for one taste of that golden apple. It was a
mistake that would alter the entire substance of mankind. Through Eve's unfortunate
judgment, the lives of others were to be miserable for generations to come. Adam and Eve
were banished from the Garden of Eden, and from the sheltered life they had so enjoyed,
obviously symbolic of a fall from innocence. To survive, they had to labor ceaselessly.
No longer were meals served on a silver platter. They must toil away to make fertile
ground for food to grow, and gather their life-sustaining water from wherever it could
possibly be found. Eve was burdened with pain and suffering through childbirth, when
previously that was the least of her worries. Their terrible curse extended to all any
descendants of theirs; all must pay for Eve's crime. In the Book of Genesis, the reader
is entirely conscious of the error in Eve's decision. She went against her morals and
standards and cheated the only two people she knew how to love. Not only was she made to
undergo castigation for her offense, Adam and all generations to come were as well. All
for one taste of that golden apple.