Can a novel have a prologue as well as an epilogue ?

Question

Thanks for the incoming replies.
Yes, I already knew the purpose of prologue and epilogue. My doubt was - whether using both of them in a single novel makes it dull or is inappropriate for some other technical reason.
I'm writing a novel. I have reached the climax scene. And now felt a need to add an epilogue to tell the reader more about two of my characters after a seemigly justified end of the story. (and my novel has a prologue too.)

Answer 1

I just finished reading a non-fiction book containing a prologue, epilogue AND an Afterword. "Raising Blaze" by Debra Ginsberg.

They can have one of each.

Answer 2

Of course. All a prologue is is a set up of what is to come in the novel itself. An epilogue sums up what has happened after the last chapter.

Answer 3

It most certainly can!

Both can be effective in putting in additional information without having to go to the trouble to link it to current action within the book.

For instance, let's have a setting of boy meets girl in a sci-fi setting. You want to have the background be on an abandoned space station, but how to let everyone know what it is & how important the setting is? This is where the prologue comes in handy. You can have the prologue be from the perspective of the last person on the space station as they face death. They can know as much or as little as you want them to.

Jane wearily leaned on the electrical board of Space Station Hal. She couldn't believe it. How could this happen to the most advanced station the world has ever seen? The electrical bursts, the system malfunctions... how could they not see it beforehand? Then there was that strange rock they brought onboard. As Jane heard movements from behind her, she closed her eyes against the worst.

Here we have the knowledge that it's a space station that is very advanced, as well as brief knowledge of what possible reasons there could be for it's demise.

Now we skip forward to the end. Boy & girl face off against aliens, space stations gone beserk, & realize their love for each other. They befriend the aliens & blow up the station, & set off for the 8 month trip home. What happens on Earth? It's pretty boring to go through the entire trip, so we just skip towards the end.

Girl snuggled into Boy's chest & gazed up at the stars. "Can we really trust them?" he asked.
"Yes. They were only scared & alone. They didn't realize that their prescence could set off Hal." Boy kissed Girl on the forehead.

Then you can throw whatever you want in there.

Sorta a long explanation, I guess. I just love writing stuff like this out. I think it's the librarian inside me. :)

Answer 4

Yes.
A prologue is a piece of infomation that you put at the front of the story .
A epilogue is what you put at the end of the sory.

Answer 5

There is no reason why a novel can't have both. Whether or not it works, would depend on the skill of the write, IMHO.

wl