Character Analysis
These three guys are no good—plain and simple.
The Master is the head of the slavery operation. He's a cold man, like a "hard lump of clay" or "glinty coal" (6). The Master doesn't pay much attention to the people he enslaves on a day-to-day basis, though, instead leaving the dirty work to his two nefarious underlings.
Next on the chain of command is the Overseer. This guy rides around on his horse, ready to "point out the slaves who were slowing down" (6). No matter where you are, no matter what you're doing, the Overseer is going to find you—and if he sees you doing something he doesn't like, then he's going to call the Driver.
The Driver might be the worst of the bunch. He's the one who actually "cracked his whip over the slow ones to make them move faster" (6), even going so far as to whip a baby at one point. Any decent person would quit their job immediately if their boss asked them to do stuff like this… so what's this guy's excuse?
Ultimately, this three-tiered power structure emphasizes the systematic nature of slavery. The American slave system was a vast economic institution that included the capture, transport, and forced labor of people, the majority of whom came from Africa. While there were many factors that contributed to this system, in the Master, the Overseer, and the Driver we get a glimpse at how, by compartmentalizing responsibilities, people are able to dehumanize others. The Master never gets blood on his hands, while the Driver treats whipping people are simply part of his job.