Poe's classic short story, "The Tell Tale Heart," is one of the first and best examples in literature of the unreliable narrator. The unreliable narrator tells the reader one 'truth', but the author's skill allows the reader to see past that, into the actual truth.
The young man, who modern medicine would categorize as a psychopath, tries to convince the reader of his sanity.
"How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily --how calmly I can tell you the whole story."
His obsession with the old man's cloudy eye causes him to kill, then dismember the old man, burying him under the floorboards. When the police arrive at 4AM, someone having heard a scream, the young man has "a light heart" as he opens the door. His heart is light for two reasons - he's done away with the dreaded "vulture eye" that haunted him, and successfully hidden his crime. It is scientifically documented that many psychopaths feel a great sense of peace after killing.
The young man's light heart disappears, however, when he 'hears' the old man's heart beating, ever louder, beneath the floorboards.
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