In Fahrenheit 451 and The Hunger Games, the power of the government has become so strong that no one questions the decisions that the government is making for its people, even though it really isn’t in their best interest. In both books, the citizens' extreme apathy to stand up to their governments is based on their inability to trust one another, and the fear of the repercussions of questioning authority.
In The Hunger Games, the government has set up a system of oppression in order to control the standard of living of their people. Those deprived of food and other basic necessities are motivated to participate in “the hunger games” in order to improve their standard of living. Others who are living a higher lifestyle are made to think it’s fun and "normal" to watch people kill each other on T.V. because they believe it’s ok since the government itself is sanctioning the hunger games. In a rational world, it would seem counterintuitive that people would watch, let alone volunteer, to participate in a killing game. But this government has positioned the games as a necessity for some, and as a form of acceptable entertainment for others, and neither group thinks to question the system.
In Fahrenheit 451, the government has banned all books based on the fact that they believe that books can be offensive. There are people who try to keep their books, but if anyone is caught with them, the government quickly sends firefighters to burn the books. Friends and family members turn on one another, so no one knows who they can trust. The government works so hard to try “not to offend anyone” that they actually stifle individuality and many people lose their interest in life.
Both novels demonstrate that when a government has excess power, it can cause downward spirals in their societies. Burning books in the name of “making everyone happy” ends up causing a loss of intelligence, purpose, and meaning in life, so many people are actually not as happy as the government intended. On the other hand, having people kill each other causes much violence, and as people are taught this is okay, the world becomes a dystopia, all at the expense of a bit of entertainment, that could be provided by other means.
These books are examples of the how extremely powerful governments can be damaging with their ways, causing people to greatly alter their way of life. If governments change something to please someone, or themselves, it is often at someone else’s expense. So they can't change things too much, or they could reach the tipping point in which everything becomes a downward spiral, where instead of creating a positive society, they have instead created a dystopia.
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