Historical Sci-Fi?

Never would I have thought that I would take a historical sci-fi book seriously. Slaughter House-Five changed my idea about this. Science fiction plays a huge role in the book. I believe that Vonnegut uses sci-fi in order to alleviate the total seriousness of war. An example from the book that I believe supports this argument is the story written by Trout. The Gutless Wonder tells the story about a robot who would use burning jellied gasoline on humans, but the only things the humans cared about were its bad breath. I think that Vonnegut uses this example of sci-fi to show how ignorant some people are about war. The use of the Tralfamadore helped allow me to see war in a different light. I believe that Vonnegut takes advantage of using aliens to convey the important points of how war is silly, yet inevitable. As an author writing about the dreadful nature of Dresden, I believe Vonnegut also uses sci-fi in his writing as a means to escape the harsh reality of having to relive the war while writing the book. Even though the idea of using sci-fi in a historical fiction book seems quite far-fetched and silly, Vonnegut cleverly combines the two aspects of what is real and what isn’t into a believable story that changes my ideas on war.