Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Don't think about pink elephants.
No, we said don't think about pink elephants.
Hello? Stop thinking about pink elephants!
We all know that when you're told not to do something, the easiest solution is… to do it. And sure enough, when Adam and Eve are forbidden by God to eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (2:16-17; 3:3-6), they eat anyway. With the serpent urging her on, Eve sees that the fruit looks yummy, picks it, and eats; then she gives some to her husband, who also eats (3:6-7).
The fruit has become a symbol for everything that's off limits to us mortals. It's the ultimate symbol of temptation, and more importantly, giving into temptation.
Mmmm, Fruit
You probably think of the fruit as an apple, but Genesis never specifies. Hey, maybe it was a durian. (Probably not.)
Regardless of what kind of fruit it was, we see that apple everywhere. From the cover of Twilight to Snow White to Desperate Housewives promos, this fruit has come to symbolize wanting what we can't have, and taking it anyway.
Stephenie Meyer takes it one step further, using the image as her epigraph:
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (2:17 KJV)
But wait. If Bella eats the apple, she's live forever. We think there's a term paper in there somewhere.