Saddam Hussein. The malicious former Iraqi dictator had a regime that bared an unbelievable resemblance to the novel by George Orwell, 1984, because of its incredibly similar “Torture Chambers”. The two were a mere image of each other because of these chambers. There are three major reasons why their torture chambers are so similar: the methods of torture, what happens to the people sent to these chambers and why these people were sent there in the first place. It is unimaginable what these people had to go through in both the real atrocities of Saddam Hussein and the fictional ones from 1984. The reality is all too real and brutal. A quote from USA Today shows it all. “Pictures of dead Iraqis, with their necks slashed, their eyes gouged out and their genitals blackened, fill a bookshelf”. This vile description is very comparable to the descriptions in 1984.

“A kick from a guard’s boot had broken the fingers of one of his hands… the man was led out, walking unsteadily, with head sunken, nursing his crushed hand, all the fight gone out of him.” (Orwell 249) Both cases bear a resemblance and portray a daunting resemblance. Another reason why Hussein is so similar to 1984 is because of where these prisoners ended up. Anyone who has read 1984 would know that people are “vaporized” which basically means that they are completely removed from all documents so they never existed. “People simply disappeared, always during the night. Your name was removed from the registers, every record of everything you had ever done was wiped out, your one-time existence was denied and then forgotten. You were abolished, annihilated: vaporized was the usual word” (Orwell 21) This is the place where Saddam made people disappear, said an Iraqi soldier named Ivad Hussein, 37” (USA Today). It is clear that Saddam’s regime is not so different from the fabled life created by George Orwell in 1984. The final, major point that connects Saddam’s regime based on his methods of imprisoning compared to 1984’s is the reasoning behind sending these people to the torture chambers. “Most were arrested on charges ranging from criticizing the Iraqi leader to cooperating with the United States” (USA Today). “All subsequent crimes against the party, all treacheries, acts of sabotage, heresies, deviations” (Orwell 14).

Both Orwell’s regime and Saddam’s make clear note that they don’t tolerate any “crime” to do with even thinking about the leader in the wrong way. In 1984 they don’t even come close to the extreme punishment with slight rebellion, compared to killing someone. Saddam is very similar to this because he also focuses severely on stopping anyone from even thinking about being displeased with him and his government. It is undoubtedly apparent that Saddam Hussein the Iraqi dictator who was hung by the US bears a perfect resemblance to the regime set up by George Orwell in is satirical novel 1984.