Saddam Hussain Character Analysis in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

A member of the Dalit caste and former security guard, Saddam Hussain is Anjum’s first permanent guest at Jannat Guest House and Funeral Services. Soon after Saddam moves in, the two become business partners—it is Saddam’s idea to officially offer funeral services at Jannat. Born Hindu, Saddam converts to Islam after his father is murdered by a mob for being suspected of killing a cow. Saddam comes to idolize his chosen namesake, Saddam Hussein of Iraq, for the grace with which he accepts his fate when he is hanged. (Saddam has the video of his idol’s hanging saved on his phone.) Determined to kill the police officer who turned his father over from custody to the mob, Saddam wants to be able to do what he feels he needs to do and accept whatever consequences he needs to for his actions. After being fired from a security guard job, Saddam makes his living exploiting the superstitions of the Hindu community by selling them false good luck charms. Eventually, Saddam falls in love with and marries Zainab, and the two live together in Jannat Guest House and Funeral Services, tending to the animals and the vegetable garden.

Saddam Hussain Quotes in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

The The Ministry of Utmost Happiness quotes below are all either spoken by Saddam Hussain or refer to Saddam Hussain. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Corruption, Political Violence, and Capitalism Theme Icon

“ Once you have fallen off the edge like all of us have […] you will never stop falling. And as you fall you will hold on to other falling people. The sooner you understand that the better. This place where we live, where we have made our home, is the place of falling people […] We aren’t even real. We don’t really exist.”

Related Characters: Anjum / Aftab (speaker), Saddam Hussain

Page Number and Citation: 88

Explanation and Analysis:

Saddam Hussain Character Timeline in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

The timeline below shows where the character Saddam Hussain appears in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Social Hierarchy vs. Social Inclusivity Theme Icon

...second permanent guest arrives at Jannat Guest House: a young man who has dubbed himself Saddam Hussain. Anjum takes a liking to him, and offers him extremely cheap rent. Saddam works... (full context)

Saddam tells Anjum the story of how he burned his eyes looking at a tree. Previously,... (full context)

Now unemployed, Saddam supports himself with a few odd jobs. For instance, he takes his horse Payal and... (full context)

Saddam soon partners with Anjum and Imam Ziauddin to begin another odd job when Anwar Bhai,... (full context)

Anjum and Saddam live together, but don’t spend much time in one another’s company. Anjum likes to spend... (full context)

Gender Identity, Social Division, and Coexistence Theme Icon

Saddened by the rise of the political right in her country, Anjum goes outside with Saddam and Biroo, their dog, to enjoy some tea. She begins to tell Saddam the “Flyover... (full context)

Out of affection for Anjum, Saddam doesn’t push the conversation further. Indeed, in that moment, he realizes she’s the person he... (full context)

...might have been based on Aryan invaders vanquishing the indigenous rulers of the land.) As Saddam and his father were driving back with the cow carcass, they came across an official,... (full context)

Hearing Saddam’s words, Anjum remembers her traumatic experience with a Hindu extremist mob. Saddam goes on to... (full context)

Once they have finished talking, Anjum and Saddam go back inside, where they “continue[] to float through their lives like a pair of... (full context)

This is the sight that Anjum, Saddam Hussain, Ustad Hameed, Nimmo and their companion Ishrat, a visiting Hijra from Indore, see when... (full context)

...Mothers of the Disappeared. Anjum insults the man heavily, but before the conflict can escalate, Saddam and Ishrat intervene. Ishrat “wade[s] into the battlefield, intervening in the practiced way that only... (full context)

Saddam Hussain and Ishrat are on a horseback “slow-goose chase” through the city. Anjum has sent... (full context)

Finally, the rickshaw leads Ishrat and Saddam to a residential neighborhood. A young woman gets out of the rickshaw, enters an apartment... (full context)

...woman. Man. Woman-man.” The woman introduces herself as Anjum, and says she and her friend Saddam Hussain have come to collect Tilo’s things for her. They gather baby toys and clothes... (full context)

...she and the baby flee to Jannat Guest House and Funeral Services, and gives Tilo Saddam Hussain’s contact card, which Tilo recognizes as the same card Saddam left when he followed... (full context)

...his gun, knife, phones, passports, and other identification documents in her freezer. She also stores Saddam Hussain’s card alongside these, so Musa will know where to find her if and when... (full context)

But it isn’t long before Saddam Hussain arrives. He drives a garbage truck, in which he has picked up a dead... (full context)

...with Miss Jebeen the Second, even though she has received Biplab’s message through Anjum and Saddam Hussain. In all this time, Tilo still hasn’t heard from Musa, but she is less... (full context)

...Jebeen the Second, and, when she’s not busy with that, nurses a full-fledged romance with Saddam Hussain. What’s more, the Guest House is not only full of human life, but also... (full context)

...eating beef. She warns Anjum to be careful about having cows on her property, but Saddam Hussain disagrees. “Careful in what way?” he says, “The only way you can be careful... (full context)

Shortly after on Independence Day, Anjum and Saddam Hussain are watching TV when they hear Zainab screaming from outside. She is terrified of... (full context)

His moment of heroism gives Saddam Hussain a boost of confidence, and he decides that night to ask Anjum for Zainab’s... (full context)

Anjum, ultimately, is delighted to accept Saddam Hussain as her son-in-law, and wedding preparations are soon underway. Before the wedding, though, Saddam... (full context)

Concerned for the ghost of Saddam’s father, Anjum suggests they give him a proper burial at Jannat Funeral Services. So the... (full context)

Saddam Hussain and Zainab are soon married at a party where all of Jannat Guest House’s... (full context)

...Azad Bhartiya comes to Jannat Guest House and Funeral Services with a letter. Anjum, Tilo, Saddam Hussain and Miss Jebeen the Second gather round to read the letter aloud. The letter... (full context)