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Yes, Conrad is setting up two realities, the first is Marlows recollection of the happenings in Africa, Much of which could be and likely is flawed due to it being from an unreliable source, the hum,an memory. and the second is the reality of how the civilized people of Europe see the events in Africa, where murderers are hailed as Heros.
Yes, Conrad sets up two significantly different types of reality in the story. One being the reality of the ivory traders leaders made up primarily of white men. These men represent greed, evilness and selfishness. The other reality is that of the natives who are powerless and barbaric like in the jungle. These two realities are ironic because towards the end of the story the white reality ends up being more animalistic and they do anything they have to in order to obtain the ivory which they so desire.
Conrad does set up two kind of reality, but only to the extent of present versus past. Conrad refrains as far as I can recall from referencing the future. Conrad spends a lot of time in his past, perhaps a reference to how many people manage to live largely in their past and think about the experiences they've already had versus the experiences to come. He also may tell the story from the perspective of another man to separate his own views from that of Marlow, versus as if he were telling the story from himself. It adds a very interesting dimension to the story.
There are many biblical references and the Conrad includes the terms “pilgrims” and “disciples.” He also makes Kurtz seem like he is above everyone else. Marlow sees him as a God-like figure.
I do believe Conrad is setting up two different kinds of realities in the book. One side of the reality is how the women and socially influenced men of the era view the imperialism of Europe, and the other side is how rational and sympathetic people like Marlow see it. In history, when slaves or a community of people are put down, often it is not the result of only one person, but many, and maybe even an entire government such as Hitler. He influenced and brainwashed people into blindly committing acts they would never commit by lying about a people, and the same is being done here in Africa. Women and the men are blind to the evils they perform on other humans whereas Marlow clearly sees the suffering the vast majority of Africans are in.
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.