What is the main conflict in Boule de Suif by Guy de Maupassant?

"Boule de Suif" was first published in 1880 in the anthology Les Soirées de Medan. Often considered his greatest work, "Boule de Suif" was published the same year that Guy de Maupassant made his poetic debut with Des Vers. The theme of the anthology of short stories was the Franco—Prussian War from a decade earlier. Other writers contributed, including Émile Zola and J. K. Huysmans, but it was Maupassant's short story, often considered the best example of naturalism, that has reigned as the most famous.