Poe's treatment toward the power differential theme in "Metzengerstein", "The Tell-Tale Heart", and "Hop Frog" all deal with the son like characters attempt to rise from the shadows of the father figure. Poe first categorizes each characters position by pointing out their weaknesses and strengths. Then Poe develops the uprising of the son like characters against the father figures all fail to triumph at the end because they fail to keep the dead buried. Except in Hop Frog where he overcomes and breaks free from the constraints of the dominant figure, the King.

In each story Poe introduces the characters weaknesses and strengths establishing the protagonist's fear of being overshadowed by the father figure's power. In "Metzengerstein", Poe points out that Metzengerstein is of an older family, younger, and wealthier than Berlifitzing, but isn't the superior character. Berlifitzing is the superior character because he's older, of a higher...