Hazel Bergeron Character Analysis

Hazel Bergeron is the mother of Harrison Bergeron and the wife of George Bergeron. Unlike her husband and son, Hazel is described as having “perfectly average” strength and intelligence (she is unable to “think about anything except in short bursts”), so she is not subjected to any mental or physical handicaps. Hazel has a loving, supportive presence throughout the story, and although she never speaks directly against the Handicapper General, she laments the fact that her husband and son are burdened by the law. She suggests, for example, that her husband rest his handicaps, stating, “I don’t care if you’re not equal to me for a while,” though she concedes that if people broke the law then society would fall apart, which shows her ambivalent relationship to the status quo. Hazel cries after the murder of her son, but due to her inability to focus on a single thought for more than an instant, she is unable to recall why she is upset once the television burns out.