Define unreliable narrator and give a classic American example.

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An unreliable narrator is a narrator whose credibility is compromised, often by mental instability, bias, or deceit, so what they describe can’t be taken at face value. In The Tell-Tale Heart, Poe uses a first-person narrator who insists he is sane while recounting his careful plan to murder an old man and his escalating paranoia. The narrator’s distorted perceptions, justification of the crime, and the obsessive focus on the imagined heartbeat reveal that his account is not a trustworthy reflection of reality. The tension comes from reading through his biased lens and piecing together what truly happened, which is exactly what makes this a classic American example of an unreliable narrator. Other narrative styles described—an all-knowing (omniscient) narrator, a speaker who only talks in dialogue, or a narrator who is unaware of events—don’t hinge on the narrator’s compromised credibility in the same way, so they don’t illustrate unreliability as clearly.