In this story, which takes place in a futuristic dystopia, people are handicapped according to their abilities. If you are slightly intelligent, you are slightly handicapped. If you are extremely intelligent, your handicaps are extreme and even more debilitating. The same prescription goes for physical ability. The stronger you are, the stronger your handicaps will be. The goal is to make everyone equal. The government wants to bring the smart people down to a certain socially common level of intelligence. They also want to make everyone equal in terms of physical ability and looks.
Hazel is completely average. She has a "perfectly average intelligence" and since she is right at the common average, she doesn't need a mental handicap. If she was a bit smarter, she would require a mild handicap. George, on the other hand, has a much higher intelligence. So, in order to bring him down to the common, average level, he is given a handicap in his ear that disrupts his thinking whenever his thoughts get too profound or intellectual.
Their son, Harrison, is profoundly gifted, mentally and physically. This is why he is given the most severe handicaps the H-G men can come up with.
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