At the end of "The Tell-Tale Heart," the protagonist becomes overwhelmed with guilt and paranoia as he believes he can hear the beating heart of the old man he has murdered. The sound grows louder and louder, until he can bear it no longer and confesses to the crime to the police. The story ends with the protagonist shouting out his confession, unable to bear the guilt any longer. The story leaves the reader with a sense of the protagonist's deteriorating mental state and his ultimate downfall.
