In the dystopian society depicted in such horrifying detail by Vonnegut, people aren't supposed to feel anything. They're simply supposed to do what the government tells them. For its citizens to enjoy a rich emotional life is dangerous to the government, as it provides a haven of repose, a personal space where people can escape the state's control. Handicaps must then be used to enforce not only a crude physical and intellectual equality but also an emotional one. So when the Bergerons watch their son's death on live TV, they've been so emotionally crippled that they're unable to feel sad for more than a few brief moments. Hazel is not a particularly bright individual, so she's naturally handicapped and inured to any deep emotions. George is naturally intelligent, however, and so he is forced to wear a radio device that emits loud noise at regular intervals to prevent him from experiencing sustained thought or emotion.
Harrison's parents do not respond to what they see on the television screen because Hazel is rather dull and George must wear a handicap on his head that prevents his thoughts from forming.
Whenever George has a thought that is the least bit complicated a buzzer goes off in his head, destroying his ideas and injecting pain. Hazel is naturally "normal," so she is not intelligent and sensitive enough to experience anything but the simplest feelings. When they see their son Harrison on the television screen after having heard that he has escaped from jail, they do not react in the expected manner of parents because George has a terrible ringing from his handicaps, This ringing in his ears prevents George's thoughts from forming as they normally would, while Mable is simply not capable of feeling anything of any depth.
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