The Garden of Eden story in Genesis chapters 2 and 3 is a slightly complex weaving together of origin stories, myths explaining features of human life.
Genesis Chapter 2
Man himself (just the male of the species) is explained - he was fashioned by Adonai-God, dust from the earth, and then brought to life by Adonai-God's breath. This is the origin story of human life.
(I intentionally name the God-character in the story as Adonai-God - as the storyteller does - in order to make it clear that I am talking about a character in a tale rather than a philosophical abstraction.)
Shrubbery was created, including the Tree of Moral Consciousness whose fruit the Man was forbidden to eat. This is the origin story of vegetation. It is also the origin story of obedience to commandments (or failure to obey).
The man, the shrubbery, and the aforementioned Tree were at the junction of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, that is, in Babylon (now Iraq). This is the origin story of the center of civilization.
In response to the man's loneliness, Adonai-God then formed the beasts and birds from the dust of the ground (contradicting Genesis 1 and any type of science), and the Man names each species, but his loneliness is not cured. This is the origin story of animals and language (names of things).
Adonai-God fashions a Woman from the Man's rib. The Man is suitably impressed and utters a lovely hymn in praise of the invention. This is the origin story of sex and marriage.
Genesis Chapter 3
A Serpent Which Can Talk suggests to the Woman that she and her Man will not die if they eat from the forbidden tree, rather, they will become godly through receiving Moral Consciousness.
This turns out to be completely true.
Neither the man nor the woman has a name, yet.
After the Woman and Man eat the forbidden fruit, Adonai-God is not pleased that the Man has indeed acquired Moral Consciousness and thus become godly, though Adonai-God acknowledges that is the case.
In rapidly cascading fashion, we are given the origin decrees or stories for:
Guilt and Shame
Slithery Snakes
The Subjugation of Women to Men
Clothing
Pain in Childbirth
(Eventual) Death of Humans
Suffering from Toil
Death of Animals
Who Is The Hero of the Story?
It is my opinion that the elevation of human beings to the status of godliness through Moral Consciousness is not an unfortunate outcome in this story. The story is ambiguous and ambivalent to be sure. That is what has made it such a fascinating subject for study throughout the ages. However, I think most religious thinkers agree that what makes human beings special as a species is Moral Consciousness, wherein lies our capacity for godliness. The eating of the fruit, therefore, was the point and goal of the story. It is the origin story of how human beings broke through the boundaries to become Adonai-God's children in the fullest sense. Not infant senseless children with no imagination or will. Rather, children with the capacity for maturity, on a journey toward godliness.
I could possibly elect the Serpent as the hero of the story. Only he told the Woman the truth, enticing her on to greater consciousness at the cost of security and incoherent obedience.
I could possibly elect the Woman as the hero of the story. (I can't yet call her Eve / Chava.) She heard about the Tree essentially what the Man had heard, but something called to her in a way that it had not called to him. She heard the enticing possibility that her "eyes would be opened" and she would gain a new kind of Consciousness. She could not possibly have understood what that might mean. She just knew that it beckoned her. She wanted what those words implied, she reached out and she took hold of it. Through her life-changing curiosity, courage, and leap of forbidden faith, she took the step that made human beings human.
Yes, I guess the Woman gets my vote.
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