Situational Irony In Josh Patcher's Invitation To Murder

Josh Patcher’s short story “Invitation to Murder” foundated its plot on situational irony. Even the title is riddled with situational irony. The twelve men believed that they would be able to stop a murder from taking place, but all of their attempts consequently end up causing Gregory Abbott’s death. To further elaborate on the plot: Eleanor Abbott’s husband, Gregory Abbott, was gravely injured in a ski accident a year prior. Since the accident, he has been in a vegetative state ever since then, which has caused Eleanor great distress. To her, Gregory was already dead, causing her to invite twelve men (who are all part of the criminal justice system in one way or another) to powerlessly witness her murder her husband. Eleanor tricked the
The men believed that they could stop Eleanor Abbott from physically attempting to murder her husband. Furthermore, in the room where the murder is set to take place, laid out on a table were a kitchen knife, a wire, a bottle that appears to contain poison, a revolver, and an iron pipe, further leading the men to assume that a physical murder will take place. Due to these carefully planned out circumstances, whenever Eleanor attempted to give her husband his medication, the men restrained her. Another example of irony intertwined in the plot is Eleanor’s arrogance. She believed that she would remain unpunished for murdering her husband, that she invited twelve of the most highly ranked people in law to witness her do it. Moreover, this foolish action while she was probably drunk with the power of a theoretically flawless plan led to her downfall. The men understood that with a superb lawyer (which Eleanor could afford with her deceased husband’s money) no jury would find her guilty, not to mention, taking arresting her would ruin their careers and images. As a result, the men took matters into their own hands to sentence her to death by her husband’s heart medication (which was ironic in its own