Is Tralfamadore a metaphor for Billy Pilgrim's culture shock?

The first time I read Slaughterhouse-Five, I was convinced that the Tralfamadorians were some sort of metaphor for Billy Pilgrim coming into contact with a more European perspective. The reason I thought this is because the first time he sees the Tralfamadorians, it's when he's in Europe, and their ideas revolve around the interlocking themes of collectivism and predestination that are more European. For example, the Tralfamadores dismiss Pilgrim's individualism early on when he asks "Why me?" Why anyone?And their ideas about no one having free will stray from the American dream of individuals having the free will to create something of themselves. In contrast, a more European perspective might take on the collectivist attitude of seeking to uplift the masses rather than individuals, as has been accomplished with many of the social safety nets put in place in European countries. I thought Vonnegut was highlighting the culture shock of being in Europe for the first time by making aliens of the Europeans. (That could also be a commentary on how we distance ourselves from our enemies for the purposes of war, making them so foreign, so inhuman, and so easy to kill, as if to be almost alien.)

But reading this book for the second time around, I don't really think that. I feel like Vonnegut would have dropped more hints for the reader. At best, the Tralfamadorians are intended to slightly parallel the culture shock he is experiencing and has experienced (and always will experience), but I'm not sure Pilgrim really experiences much of the Germans and other Europeans he comes into contact with. There are the doctors who are appalled by the Americans' treatment of the horses after the bombing of Dresden, and there's the merciful German "mop-up" crew, but when would Pilgrim have had the chance to learn about them so intimately without having engaged in real conversations with them? On the other hand, being a prisoner of war of the Germans must have been very intimate in its own way.

IN CONCLUSION, I don't really have a conclusion. I'm still kind of captivated by the idea the the Tralfamadores might be metaphor for Pilgrim's culture shock because it presents a side of war that is often ignored. During wars, people are being thrust into completely different countries with different languages and customs, and this aspect of war is almost completely ignored. It would be so Vonnegut to focus on this neglected aspect of war, and the way it draws out a certain level of cultural awareness. Which is very ironic considering the idea of war is to obliterate the opposing culture.