What was the relationship between George and Hazel?

George
and Hazel are 's parents, who live a difficult, oppressed life under the government's strict
equality policy. In Vonnegut's celebrated short story "Harrison Bergeron," the United
States government has amended the Constitution to ensure complete uniformity and equality in all
facets of life. In the year 2081, agents of the United States Handicapper General ensure
complete equality by forcing talented or attractive individuals to wear cumbersome handicaps
that limit their potential and above-average abilities. In the story, Harrison Bergeron is an
athletic genius who is imprisoned for attempting to overthrow the government. Harrison's
parents, George and Hazel, struggle to remember their son and live a bleak existence.

Hazel has normal intelligence, which means that she can only think in short bursts and
is rather ignorant. Despite her ignorance, Hazel is a sympathetic, gentle woman who shows
compassion for her husband. In contrast, George was born with above-average intelligence and is
forced to wear a tiny mental handicap radio in his ear, which emits periodic loud sounds to
interrupt his thoughts. George is also forced to wear a forty-seven-pound bag of birdshot as a
physical handicap; he refuses to remove a single metal ball in fear of being severely punished.
George and Hazel both witness their son attempt to take over the country on national television
before he is brutally murdered by the Handicapper General. Tragically, George and Hazel cannot
remember anything they witnessed on the screen after the program switches.