What is the significance of Marlow's statement, "He is one of us"? Who does the "us" refer to? To what degree is Jim representative of the human condition, of Westerners, etc.

This statement is asserted by Marlow a number of times through the novel, gathering a different connotation with each usage. It consistently establishes a kind of solidarity. Jim is brought into the fold of good men, in sharp contrast to men of a bad lot like the German captain of the Patna, Brown, and Cornelius. Jim is "one of us" in the sense that he holds critical self-knowledge. He is aware of his shortcomings, yet he holds to his ideals.

Conversely, the statement of solidarity also functions to separate Jim from his life in Patusan where Jim, according to Marlow, will forever remain a mystery because he is not a native of the area. "He is one of us" in the sense that he is a white man and a Westerner, not someone else.