Situational Irony In Josh Patcher's Invitation To A Murder

The short story “Invitation to a Murder” by Josh Patcher is an ironic story set at the Abbott home in New York City. Throughout the entire story, situational irony was displayed. In the beginning of the passage, Mrs. Abbott placed murderous items on a table, including a bottle that was assumed by the men to be poison. At this point of the story, the readers did not realize that by the men assuming the bottle was poison to be used on Mr. Abbott, was a mistake. On the bottle, a picture of a skull and crossbones was exhibited, the symbol for poison. Although this object was on the table with weapons to be used against Mr. Abbott, it was actually medicine that Mr. Abbott coincidently could not live without. Not using the substance fundamentally killed Mr. Abbott. Mrs. Abbott obviously knew this, so she cleverly placed the bottle on the table, therefore the twelve men would stop her from reaching for the bottle, leading Mr. Abbott to a certain death. Not using the substance may have killed Mr. Abbott, but using it, caused Mrs. Abbott’s death.

Abbott explained to the men her devious plan, the men were in shock. By stopping her from acquiring the bottle, each man essentially murdered Mr. Abbott. The men discussed their plan of action, still stunned. The policemen decided that to silence Mrs. Abbott, they needed to execute her. The contents of the bottle were medicine to keep Mr. Abbott alive; however, the substance was poisonous to any normal human being. After an extensive conversation, the men stated to Mrs. Abbott that she was guilty of first degree murder, punishable by death. They used the bottle to poison and kill her. Although the substance could have kept Mr. Abbott alive, it was used to murder his wife. Mrs. Abbott thought she had a flawless plan, except she did not expect her own