2. How do the "handicaps in the story enforce sameness rather than equality?

postive, comparative, superlative - good, better, best

recall how we defined nouns as words capable of having plurals and possessive endings. adjectives (and their first cousin, the adverb) also have a feature that distinguishes them. they come in three states. first, the raw adjective—in its positive state—merely describes the noun modified; it doesn’t care about how this particular person or thing stacks up against other members of the same noun class

an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference.