How is it that one is considered a mad man/woman? Who has the given right to claim anyone [other than themselves] mad? The answer lay not in books, or archived in libraries, instead it is lodged deep within our inner mind and soul. Our conscious speaks to us directly, sometimes whispering with innocence, and sometimes screaming inevitably, telling what is right, and what is wrong, based on nothing other than pure will. Edgar Allan Poe's essay, "The Tell–Tale Heart," is an excellent example of how human nature is a delicate balance of how light and dark, good and evil, control every aspect, judgement, and choice that we make in our lives.
             "The Tell-Tale Heart" opens with the main character describing an illness which has "sharpened" their senses. His/her increase in hearing ability allowed him/her to hear all things in Heaven, Earth, and even Hell. Strange as this may seam, the narrator (which is the main character) did not consider themselves in any way "mad." Unknowingly, the desire to kill the old man due to his "Evil eye" had somehow entered his/her head. The idea that the old man had an "Evil eye" alone should be enough to consider someone mad, but the narrator, did not. And so the caretaker set forth a plan to kill the old man.
             Every night for a week straight, the narrator would sneak into the old man's room, preparing to kill him, but could not do so because the narrator needed to be able to see the old man's "evil eye". Finally, on the eighth night, the narrator was able to see the old man's eye and suffocated him; the old man released no more than a single shriek before he died, and that alone was enough to alert the neighbor who then alerted the authorities.
             When the authorities showed up at the care taker and old man's home, the care taker had already placed the old man underneath the floor boards, co...