Conrad sees to set up two kinds of reality because Europeans should be helping Africans to become more civilized and better people but in reality they are using them for their own purpose. Europeans are more uncivilized than Africans because they treat them like slaves but we born to not be slaves we born free and no one should have the power to take our freedom away
I think that that Conrad is trying to establish only one reality. He's trying to establish the reality of the Imperialism and how it was falsely portrayed as an attempt to help the natives and an attempt to "civilize" them. The natives were obviously being used like workhorses to get that ivory and weren't really being helped in any way. They died by the thousands during this European attempts at Imperialism but all of that was being covered up.
Conrad does seem to be setting up two kinds of realities. one is the reality of the people who live in Europe and have no idea of what is going on in Africa. They don't know of the wilderness and savagery and all they know is that it brings back money and fame. The other reality is the real one in which people who visit Africa see for the first tiem the real horrors of imperialism. They are able to see the killings and the suffering and know that the wilderness can drive a man crazy. They are affected for the rest of their lives.
He seems to depict two, but only one is the true reality. The realities are that Kurtz is a great man because he gets tasks done so efficiently and quickly, and he gets what he wants and makes a lot of money, but the reality is that he is doing this by committing evil actions such as putting the natives into slave like labor and basically killing them because they are not treated humanely. The imperialists like Kurtz come to Africa to "help" them because they think that they are barbarians when the imperialists themselves are the barbarians.
Conrad's extremist or optimistic view and worst perception or view on things slows the realities regarding both marlow and kurtz. Marlow is able to see both the goodness and badness, while kurtz is representing some women can only see the positive and ignorant aspect of life while. kurtz presents a mysterious character, not open to his sins or greed while he is a great person.
Conrad does set up two kinds of realities or qualities in this novel. He does so with the character Kurtz. Kurtz is praised for being one of the best agents, and a powerful man and contributor. People envy him and praise him endlessly without even knowing him personally. The other side of Kurtz is hidden, but has always been there. He is seen as "demonistic", greedy and selfish. Kurtz's true personality is judged by the reader, and they have to decide which reality is the truth about Kurtz.
I think Conrad's two kinds of reality are between what is moral and what is immoral. The interesting thing about these two qualities is the fact that Conrad constantly blurs the lines between them and never sets a firm idea as to what he thinks is moral and not. Through out the journey Marlow acts solely as a narrator to the story and rarely makes judgements about the European imperialistic ideas, the way the natives are being treated, Marlow, etc. he states what is actually going on and lets the reader make judgements about what is good and bad. The two kinds of reality that Conrads allows in his story is really up for the reader to create.
Yes he is setting up the surface and the actual reality. The surface reality to the whites is that they are helping these people and teaching them the western way. While the true reality is they are destroying these people. They are taking aways their homes, culture, and lives. An example of Conrad splitting up reality is how Kurtz is viewed by everyone as a God and extremely successful. When the truth is he has had to do awful things to get where he is and now he is extremely weak because of it.
Conrad absolutely is setting up two kinds of reality. There is the surface reality, and the truth. The surface reality is what everyone on the outside and everyone who is ignorant sees. It shows that European colonization is a great thing. That it is civilizing the Africans and is fair and brings economic prosperity to all. However the other reality is hidden, but it is the truth. The truth is that the Africans are horribly exploited and massacres for only a few to get extremely rich.
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