Does the Mules Foal conform to your expectations of a normal novel?.
The Mules Foal by Fotini Epanomitis, to me, is a normal novel because it tells a story and is about events that could be real. It is a story about three houses in a greek/turk village and about what happens inside these houses, as well as the people inside them. At the start of the story the narrator Mirella tells us that it is a 'story of houses, of what happens in them and between them.'.
In other words, this book meets the wide definition of a novel, which is an 'extended work of prose fiction' (Abrams, 1971, pg 110) and has all the elements required for a novel such as plot, setting characters and point of view. The Mule's Foal is a normal novel because it fits the genre of Magic Realism. Each element of the novel is affected by its genre. .
The Mule's Foal is a normal novel because it fits the definition of a novel. This book is obviously not based on true events because the events that take place are fantastical. This book also meets the narrower definition of prose romance, which is a novel that 'uses simplified characters, a solitary protagonist who is isolated from a social context, and has anologies to dreams, myths, rituals and folklores'(Abrams, 1971, pg 112). Firstly a good example from the book which fits this definition for ritual is when all the deformed babies are placed near the bridge that leads into the village and the pigs eat them:.
"And if the child were born without legs or arms, or even without a head, then the mother would leave the children at the foot of the bridge. The villagers would let out their pigs which would eat and maul and eat the child.".
Secondly, myths are included and a good example of this is the story of St Vaia and her holy water:.
"The story says that this is St. Vaia's holy water. St Vaia, who had refused to abandon her faith for the Turks. They cut of her breasts and she bled to death.
There were both 2-horse chariot and 4-horse chariot races, with separate races for chariots drawn by foals. Another race was between carts drawn by a team of 2 mules. ... In riding the course was 6 laps around the track (4.5 miles), and there were separate races for full-grown horses and foals. ...