Chicken Little Goes Too Far

Social settings

The social setting of “Chicken Little Goes Too Far” explores raising awareness of current issues. Chicken Little learns about the sky falling and feels that it is his duty to warn others about it. He is largely met with indifference, but he does not give up. He continues to raise awareness by forming a group, launching a website, and organizing protests (ll. 56-62). It should be noted that Chicken Little warns about the problem of the sky falling only after extensive research, which shows that his aim is not simply to spread panic.

The social setting also presents the attitudes of other characters to the matter of the sky falling. Most of them refuse to believe Chicken Little because taking action might mean changing their comfortable lifestyle. Others, like Goosey Loosey, do not think it is the kind of news that would interest people. There is also Hoggy Goggy, whose business would suffer from Chicken Little’s protests. He is aware that there is a problem, because he has taken steps to protect himself from it: “He himself lived in a bunker designed to protect him from the large chunks of sky that were now falling” (ll. 64-66). However, his business relies on the very issue which is causing problems, as he is the “head of a large development company that sold retirement-home properties in the sky” (ll. 64-64). Therefore, he thinks that drawing awareness to this issue will make people want to stop buying from him, and he will no longer be able to make a profit.