Enrique Pajuelo

Rhetorical Analysis
There is a general concern towards warfare, especially because
of the aftermath of world wars in the twentieth century. In modern
society, where warfare and terrorism have arisen as a product of
religious and ideological conflicts, artists have adopted this concern
and use their art to express it. In the graphic poster Stop War designed
by Onish Aminelahi, the author depicts the atrocities of warfare and
raises awareness of its devastating effects. The poster made in 2008 is
a direct critique to war and terrorism in the Middle East, more
specifically in Iran. The author attempts to defend human life and
reject anything that defies its existence. Nonetheless, he is not trying
to restrict his audience or the effects of war to the Iranian community;
he addresses a broader group of people and states the universality of
his argument. We can tell this because he is not using culture-specific
items, but introduces a universal element such as the mainstream
baby toys.
The main idea of the poster is to transmit through a simple but
powerful image the atrocities generated at war. In order to engage the
audience with the theme, Aminelahi utilizes parts of baby toys that are
spread all over the poster. This represents death and mass murder in
war. The author reinforces this idea by presenting imagery that appeals
to sensibility, using straightforward language to transmit his message,
and a sense of never-ending cruelty. These three ways of conveying his

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idea strengthen his main argument but also create an interaction with
the audience.
Aminelahi uses innocence as an element to transmit his
argument. His statement is made clear as the author writes in green
letters in the center of the poster the following message: Stop war.
With the image on the background, this message implicitly tells the
audience the reason behind his argument: war is killing many innocent
people. The main and only characters of his poster are children, the
most pure representation of innocence. Children are not aware of the
evil in the world and are not aware of the reasons behind such
atrocities; however, children also have to suffer because of war, even if
they have no direct relation with it. Aminelahi demands the audience
to step aside and stop thinking about those nations fighting the war,
and instead focus on those who should not be involved but who are still
paying the consequences.
The idea that children are dying at war, however, does not only
refer to the babies, but to all those in their early twenties who are sent
to war. Despite the fact that these young adults do not represent the
same innocence as babies portray, they are still a representation of
family. The author wants to highlight the fact that we are murdering
the inner children in our teenagers, and that instead we introduce the
idea that part of growing and maturing is facing the atrocities of the
world. He appeals to reason because the children are not the ones in

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charge of the institutional structures of society; instead, adults should
take responsibility.
In the same way, we can see on the poster that there are more
body parts than heads. This depicts the fact that even though not
everyone dies, many of the ones who do not, get injured and suffer.
Official numbers of the aftermath of war usually present the number of
casualties, but does not account for physical damage and material
losses. War does not only destroy life, but it changes the lives of those
who survived. Many lose their homes, their arms, family, and even
suffer psychological consequences and traumas. Aminelahi wants the
audience to be aware of these brutalities as well.
In order to transmit his arguments, the author uses visual
imagery and metaphors that represent the horrors of war. The first
image the author uses is blood, and it refers to its effect as atrocious.
Aminelahi states the following: even watching this unreal scene, is
disgusting. This image, despite representing a real event with unreal
babies (showing no explicit images of death), affects the sensibility of
the audience. The author appeals to emotion in order to make these
events in the Middle East feel personal to the audience.
Moreover, Aminelahi does not present a finite image. The fact
that the body parts are cut off the image on the sides transmits a
sense of infinity to the audience. It is overwhelming to see that the
wars appear to be never-ending. Despite cultural movements and an

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increase in living standards and toleration, humans still use new
technologies to fight to solve their arguments. An agreement cannot
be reached by peace and war seems to be the recurrent alternative.
The author is attempting to make a point on the fact that we only
consider the most recent wars. Nonetheless, the Iranian community
has been victim of several wars, some of which are still ongoing until
present days.
The author has purposely chosen to use a graphic poster in order
to complement the content of his ideas. This tool aids his intention
because it does not explicitly show death and instead uses fiction and
friendly representations. If he had shown a drawing or a photograph of
people at warfare, many would not have wanted to look and analyze it.
This poster allows the message to reach a wider audience, and thus
create consciousness of war. It succeeded in fulfilling the authors
intentions by adapting his message on a medium that can effectively
address his audience.
This poster is made in a culture that despite despising the wars
for terror does not seem to comprehend that people are suffering. The
authors message is easy to transmit, even if you are not aware of
current wars. His aim was to reach a universal audience and get all
parties involved, and he does so effectively by employing rhetorical
strategies. This is a desperate cry for help to the international
community to ally forces and settle agreements that avoid violent

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destruction. Aminelahis personal experience in Iran has made him a
witness of the consequences of war, so he tries to defend human life
by portraying innocent people. He has found in art a means to depict
his first-hand accounts and to transmit not only his message, but also
the message of a country that has been victim of warfare and its
devastating results.