I didn't think about it very much at the time of me first reading this part of the book, but basically this quote starts off the book by showing the corruption we bring upon ourselves in towns, communities, and in society in general. Within Maycomb, EVERYONE talks about each other. When gossip gets out it gets around the town in hours. This leads townspeople to almost this fear of the slightest mess up. It's like if they do something wrong, everyone will judge them and bring shame to their family.
What should happen is that the people support each other. Instead of always spreading the bad news, why not spread the good? Instead of having tea circles where ladies all gather together and trash talk, why not gather and talk of how to improve the community and the good outcomes they've had?
If the town were to all "vibe" together on good energy and yummy tea then honestly, so many things could be so easily fixed. ;)
I can relate this to gossip among teens locally at DSA and probably at all high schools. It's like there's always this weird pressure to be good enough, to not do stupid things, to not embarrass yourself, to wear the right clothing, to act a certain way... When really, if we all just didn't care about this "fear" of disapproval, we could all be cool, unqiue, and individual people to our own selves.
I agree with your view on getting the community together to talk of improvement and not to talk about other people. I also like your connection to the real world, it would definitely be cool if everyone didn't feel pressured to fit the norm.
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