At first to the reader these details seem grotesque and entirely irrelevant. This may be one reason Vonnegut prefers science fiction to real life science. In Slaughterhouse-Five , Pilgrim is abducted by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore. When asked where he was and how he got there, the Tralfamadorians replied, It would take another Earthling to explain it to you. The Tralfamadorians also explain the real meaning and concept of time.
All time is all time.
It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is. The aliens go on to explain that all moments in time happen at once. Therefore, nothing can be done to change the past or future, because there really is no past or future.