In Joseph Conrad's novella "Heart of Darkness", Marlow, the main character (also the projection of Conrad himself), is depicted as an experienced seaman who has seen much in his time. Throughout the novella Marlow's relationship with his audience (both inside and outside the story) is quite intriguing.
Right from the start we can tell that Marlow feels comfortable with these other people on the Nellie. Marlow describes the captain of the yawl as "trustworthiness personified", while making references to "the bond of the sea" that he shared with the other passengers onboard. He goes on to describe the mutual tolerance between his associates and himself, conveying a sense of informality and also familiarity to the reader.
This air of familiarity is stressed further by Marlow's use of the inclusive pronoun "we". Sentences such as "Mind, none of us would feel exactly like this" makes the reader want to believe that is the case. Conrad uses this link between Marlow and his audience further by involving the audience in the story. Confessing he doesn't want to bother us with what happened to him personally, Marlow then goes on to prompt us to recall that at the time that his adventure began, he had just returned from London. We get many more glimpses of this technique Conrad uses throughout the novella. For example when describing his childhood fancies Marlow says, "wellwe won't talk about that," despite the obvious fact that he is the only one talking. This is a clear example of Marlow trying to let the audience familiarise themselves with Marlow.
It can be seen that when Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" is placed under scrutiny, the relationship between the audience and Marlow that Conrad is trying to establish is clearly one that is based on familiarity.