Etiologies in Gen 2-3

One of the most pressing philisophical questions, "why are we here," seems to be curtly answered in the first few lines of genesis 2: "there was no human to till the soil" (Gen 2:5). We discussed the intimate linkage between mankind and the earth, and this wording suggests that mankind was created to till soil, explaining our origins (so much for being a doctor). This human purpose is again supported when God sends adam into "the garden of Eden, to work it and to watch it" (Gen 2:15). Again we see a defined reason for human existance, protecting and working the land.
After this we see some more concrete etiologies, such as the explanation of the family unit. The way kinship works, mother, father, and children, and the order they occur, is explained here. The reference to "bone" and "flesh" (Gen 2:23) enforces the relationship between man and wife. The order of these events is spelled out, "a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh" (Gen 2:24). Even the use of the word "Therefore" sets the tone of an etiological explanation of a present phenomenon.
The next enlightenments are results of god's punishments. We learn why snakes exist as they do as a punishment for their powers of manipulation. Further than that, it seems that Genesis 2 also explains the source of uneasiness and fright of many humans with snakes, as "emnity" (Gen 3:15) is placed between humankind and snakes. The use of the word "seed" shows that this is an explanation of a lasting condition, something that transcends generations and is omnipresent, such as the general fear of snakes and their connotation of evil.
The pain of childbirth and "inferiority" of women is explained as a punishment for Eve breaking god's rule, as well as mankind's ongoing struggle to produce food from the ground. This last explanation of hardship to till the soil could cover such things as natural disasters, and would have been especially important to explain in biblical times, when fear of famine and food production was a much more pressing issue than it is now.