His motives for battle change over the course of the epic. In the beginning, Beowulf wants to defeat these monsters, not only to save the people, but for fame. The first two battles end up giving him exactly that, only to make him somewhat arrogant about his victories. At the end of the story, he fights a dragon who has been guarding many treasures. Although he is old, Beowulf wants to defeat the dragon, and ends up completing his goal. This time however, he fights the dragon only for the purpose of saving his people, not for fame. Beowulf does not care that he will not be one of the people receiving the treasure, rather he is glad that it will go to the people. The theme of good versus evil is one that many stories include, and yet Beowulf presents a very strong for the theme. Not only does Beowulf defeat many monsters, his motives for doing so improve as time went on. No longer does he want to battle for fortune, rather he wants to battle just so his people can be saved. Both aspects of this theme are great examples of when good curses evil, good will always