296 Chapter Thirteen
of time and energy, to deal with children. The prophet’s statement
included in the poster might function to alleviate such concerns by virtue
of seeing child’s playfulness as a privilege rather than a concern.
Figure 8. A childless, old couple still hesitant to have children due to financial
concerns.
Figure 8 pictures a childless, old couple who are hopelessly discussing
if they should decide to have a child. The man says “It’s time to have a
child” and the woman disappointedly answers “I’m afraid, our child would
die of hunger”. The piles of cash surrounding the couple illustrate the huge
amount of money they spend on allegedly unnecessary things, such as the
expenses for buying villas and state-of-the-art mobile phones, the expenses
for cosmetic surgery and going on a tour around Europe, as the posts on
the cash piles read. The poster seems to criticize those couples who can
afford to have children but hesitate to do so because they do not know how
to budget their money. The slogan at the top, ‘More Children, A Better
Future’, may warn young couples of the negative consequences of living
without children, especially those who resort to financial conditions as the
reason or excuse. The EFFECT FOR CAUSE metonymy seems to be the major
conceptual operation which is used to highlight the unpleasant outcomes
of the postponement of, or avoiding, having children.
Figure 9 shows a young, happy family boating on a river. The statement
reads: ‘Instead of Toys, Let’s Grant Our Children Brothers And Sisters as
Gifts’. The SIBLINGS ARE GIFTS metaphor criticizes the common trend in
single-child families that attempt to entertain their only child through toys
in order to make them happy. The metaphor implies that toys cannot bring
about real happiness for children and cannot take the place of siblings
whose presence causes real joy and provide entertainment. The poster
pictorially represents the sources of real happiness and entertainment, i.e.