Why was Adam exempt from the transgression when the transgression was disobedience?

[Cyberman]

The Other, though, I suppose that need not be "other than"...hehehe. Perhaps the serpent seduced adams wife, perhaps it represents a counterculture, perhaps a minority report, perhaps it represents our inner monologue confronted with the decrees of authority - our ability to see through the lies told "for our own good" - and then, in seeing them, our inability to resist the temptation to point them out or act upon that knowledge.

Or, maybe, the author told a story about dragons to keep coins falling in the cup - and it represents nothing other than entertainment. It's difficult to answer questions like these. Living authors are often told what their own work represents despite their vocal disagreement with the assessments of others.

That's the trouble with metaphors. Without knowing the author's intent, an orphaned metaphor is left flapping around desperately seeking an interpretation. Such can only be subjective. Thus a reading whereby a snake leads to forbidden fruit, resulting in loss of innocence, shame, and parental disapprobation, is at least as likely as any other thrown about over the years.