Douglass is implicit in his criticism that the splendor of Colonel Lloyd's estate was made possible only by the toil of slaves. Ironically, in a cruel gesture, slaves were never allowed to enjoy the fruits of their labor. In fact, slaves were constantly kept hungry.
In this and other chapters, Douglass presents a vast panorama of slaves under constant surveillance. Not only do slave owners lay traps to catch slaves breaking rules, he says, but they want to eliminate all dissenting slaves. And they accomplish this end by various means, including spying and entrapment. The constant surveillance by owners is one of many ways slaves are intimidated and brainwashed into believing that their lot is better than it really is. In effect, slaves are unconscious of their reality. This fact is illustrated by the example of slaves fighting among themselves to determine whose owner is better. Douglass condemns this false consciousness which destroys solidarity among slaves. Perversely, loyalty has become a matter of pledging allegiance to one's owner and not to one's brother.
Douglass is repeatedly critical of the slave owners' value system. Not only do owners treat slaves like animals, but they usually value animals more than their slaves. Lloyd certainly mistreated his slaves but never his horses; Douglass says that such a system which prizes animals over humans is heinous. Lloyd likewise meted out punishment in an arbitrary manner; because the horse handlers (the two Barneys) could never satisfy him, Lloyd's justice exemplified the capricious system of slavery.
