Walking the plank was not a common practice among pirates, but keelhauling was. The idea of walking the plank comes from literary sources and has been fictionalized in pirate movies. The term can also apply to politics when a politician is forced to make a career-ending vote for the benefit of their party.
According to the literature, plank walking means walking by a wooden plank extending from a drowning vessel. One might be blindfolded or have their hands tied to prevent people from swimming safely. This wasn’t actually a common practice during the glory days of pirates; instead, sailors were punished in the 19th century through a practice called keelhauling.
Keelhauling is a severe form of corporal punishment that can lead to death. In this practice, the sailor was secured to a rope which was tied to the other side of the boat. He would then have been dragged under the ship, where he would have run into barnacles attached to the ship, causing minor scratches at the very least, but most likely severe cuts. This would be done quickly so the sailor would not drown; but the sailors often did not survive the process.
The idea of ”walking the plank” appears to have originated mainly from literary sources such as JM Barrie’s novel Peter Pan. It is probable that pirates did not need extraordinary means to execute sailors. A sword, a knife, or simply throwing someone overboard was likely to kill less dramatically.
However, the idea of having to walk to one’s death caught on and has been deeply fictionalized in pirate movies ever since. For example, in the blockbuster film Pirates of the Caribbean, Elizabeth and Captain Jack are forced to walk the plank. George Lucas also presented a variation of this punishment in Return of the Jedi when Jabba the Hut forces Han Solo to walk on a giant worm that will supposedly eat his body for centuries.
Of course, the “walking the plank” scene in the many variations of the Peter Pan story is dramatic and effective because the children must choose punishment or become pirates. The emphasis here is that it might be better to die than to be evil and evil all your life.
There is a foggy version of plank walking that can be observed among sailors in training. Only the victim’s hands are not tied and he usually enters a safe pool. The term can also apply to party politics.
A political party may ask its members to make a sacrifice by making a possible career-ending vote. This is walking the plank because the person is being forced to do something deadly, politically speaking. Politicians who take such action do not do so without considerable pressure from their party. They can only do that if the vote will somehow benefit the party in ways that are worth sacrificing one’s career.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
