A Donkey’s Diary: Animal Farm Reloaded

Seventy-five years after the publication of Orwell’s satirical fable, it’s story time again! So, welcome to the Free World where everyone will live happily ever after… right? SYNOPSIS A team of future scientists is determined to find out what caused a previous mass extinction of species when they discover evidence that may provide an answer to what caused the event. The ancient finds include several scriptures, among them a story called Animal Farm which tells the tale of the overthrowing of a farm by animals. This story is continued in another scripture titled Animal Farming which is told from the perspective of the donkey Benjamin, who escapes the farm in fear of persecution by its new rulers. At first, Benjamin is impressed by the high living standards on his new host farm but soon starts developing ethical concerns when a huge hen cage is installed. Throughout the story he meets a series of characters representing renowned Western philosophers who have shaped the basis of today’s moral justification for intensive animal farming methods. While they try their best to convince Benjamin of its legitimacy, the story’s tragic ending leaves the future scientists both surprised and disturbed to have found a major clue as to what seems to have caused the almost-extinction of all life on Earth. Similar to its prequel, A Donkey’s Diary is a satirical fable about humans and other animals. The story represents how food production – and with it the human-animal relationship – has changed over the course of the past three Industrial Revolutions and highlights which ancient arguments were (and still are) used to justify intensive farming practices. It invites the reader to ponder animals, food, money, work, intelligence, the current mass extinction and much more.