Charles Chesnutt's Dave's Neckliss and The Goophered Grapevine

I don't know about anyone else, but after reading Dave's Neckliss I will never look at ham/pork the same way ever again!
I actually liked the story and thought that it gave an adequate representation of a slaves life. 
I also liked that it was written from a slave's perspective, even if that slave was not Dave.
The story itself had some great moments, such as when Dave got caught learning to read and the way his Master allowed him to continue to read the Bible and then asked him to preach to the others.  I know that it was allowed to keep the slaves under control, yet it was also empowering to Dave. 
To allow a slave to read even though it was illegal and to actually encourage it took great courage on the part of his Master.  Plus his Master Dugal was a kind man when he purchased Dilsey and Aunt Mahaly so that they could stay together.  Most slave owners of the time wouldn't have cared one way or the other if a slave was sold away from someone they knew and loved. 
I think the story really gives a good representation of how much harm people can cause one another, regardless of the color of their skin.  The slaves were all extremely cruel to Dave when they thought he stole the ham, when in reality they should have known that he would never have done such a deed.  Likewise, Master Dugal should have known that he would not have done this either and looked for other culprits. 
I did think that it was quite sad that Dave ended up killing himself, due to being driven mad by the fact that he had to caring the burden of the ham (his innocence) around his neck.  I think it may have been due to having everyone, especially the woman who was supposed to love him, turn their backs on him and assume that he had perpetrated the crime.
Perhaps the moral of this story is that one should look for the truth, before passing judgment on others.

I thought The Goophered Grapevine was hilarious.  First off you get this image of a black man sitting there with a bunch of grapes that he is obviously going to eat.  Then you get this tale of witchcraft and how the farm is cursed.  Yet if you look at the man who has the grapes, you know that the tale has to be false, otherwise he wouldn't be able to eat the grapes.  Plus you get the image of the slave who eats the grapes, then ends up growing hair in the shape of grapes and then losing it when the vines begin to whither.  The whole story is meant to throw fear into the northerner and his wife who wish to purchase the farm.   At this point you get the impression that perhaps the story made them decide not to purchase the farm, and then you get the northerner going nope I did not fall for this and that the truth was that the black man had been selling the grapes to others and was worried about losing money.  It was rather fitting when we learn that the northerner helped the black man by hiring him to work the farm and that the people he hired to work the farm all wanted to eat the scuppernong grapes, but they didn't dare for fear of the curse.  This gave the original tale some credibility, but it could have been that since the northerner treated this man with kindness and gave him a job, that this male spread the tale to the new workers to keep them from eating the scuppernong grapes.  Either way the story shows how fear of the unknown can be a very powerful deterrent.