The Raft of the Medusa
Chapter 5, "Shipwreck", is an analysis of Géricault's painting, "The Raft of the Medusa". The first half narrates the historical events of the shipwreck and the survival of the crew members. The second half of the chapter analyses the painting itself. It describes Géricault's "softening" the impact of reality in order to preserve the aestheticism of the work, or to make the story of what happened more palatable.