Carnal Knowledge

What is the major conflict in “Carnal Knowledge”?
In the short story “Carnal Knowledge”, a character named Jim brought a few questions to my mind, one in particular is have I ever, or do I lust over someone or thing and then try to justify my actions and feelings with reasoning   like Jim? Like Jim, I have to come to the cross roads within myself of what to do or what not to do. We would not be considered human otherwise, would we?
To me Jim is just like every other guy in the world that is a bachelor. He is easy going, likes to eat and loves the company of a pretty lady. What guy would not right? When Jim meets Alena Jorgensen he is overwhelmed with her beauty. “ I   don’t want to make too much of the moment, don’t want to mythologize it or clutter the scene with allusions to Aphrodite rising from the waves or accepting the golden apple from Paris, but she was a pretty impressive sight. Bare legged, fluid, as tall and uncompromising as her Nordic ancestors, (566)”.   Here Jim is doing what all men do. Remembering every detail of the “Aphrodite” (their “meat”) that seems to jump into his life at an unexpected moment. She is attractive to Jim, why wouldn’t he want to pursue this piece of “meat”?   To me, Jim and I have a little in common here. When we see something attractive to us, whether it is a person or thing, we want to do what we can to obtain this “meat” that will satisfy our craving.
When Jim initially meets Alena for the first time it is because her rescued dog Alf has found Jim napping on the beach and decided to take a pee on him. Alena is not only Jims’ piece of “meat” dangling in front of him but Alf’s savior. Turns out that Alena had saved Alf from a lab that studied doggy boots. “Alena leaned forward and there was real hate in her eyes. She mentioned a prominent shoe company—spat out the name, actually. Alf had been part of an experiment to market booties for dogs, suede, cordovan, patent leather, the works. The dogs were made to pace a...