5. What does Orwell say is the struggle of his entire life as well as the struggle of every white man in the East?

Orwell mentions about the struggle of his entire life as well as the struggle of every white man in the East.

Explanation:

"Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell is a story about Orwell shares about himself as a police officer in Burma. He is the immediate manifestation of the British colonial government and he interacts majorly with the Burmese people. He experiences that whatever struggles he faced should not be laughed upon. But, it is a struggle he generalizes to even every other white men in the East.

When he shoots the escaped elephant he realized that people have mercy towards him. He is the one who is being governed by them and it is not the other way round.

The fear of looking foolish is not his struggle, but is the primary burden of each white men in the east.

The struggle for respect

Explanation:

In the story "To Shoot an Elephant" by George Orwell, the author reflects on the role that the British colonists had when it came to Burma. Orwell tells us that he is forced to shoot an elephant to avoid ridicule:

"The crowd would laugh at me. And my whole life, every white man's life in the East, was one long struggle not to be laughed at".

Therefore, we can see that the struggle for respect is what Orwell believes is the hardest job for a white man. This is because, in order to maintain order, the Burmese need to think of the British as more capable, more intelligent or better prepared. If the Burmese think of the British as weak or ridiculous, the rhetoric of imperialism would not be successful.