In the Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass what is the overall impression of his childhood on the plantation?

The overall impression one gets is cruelty.  Douglass goes
to lengths to describe how his childhood was defined by the overall cruelty of the
master.  In the opening chapter, Douglass describes how slaves are whipped and beaten
for disobeying the master, like Aunt Hester.  The overall impression that continues on
is that slave masters and plantation managers enjoyed using violence and savagery as a
means of controlling slaves and ensuring that obedience of slaves was maintained through
subjugation and repression.  The use of whippings, beatings, and being subject to
extremely horrific conditions allows one to fully grasp Douglass' contention that
slavery was a way of life that could not sustain itself and its own demise was evident. 
At some level, the cruelty that it offered compelled Douglass to believe that it will
suffocate itself out of existence.