Suddenly, he was weeping. The tears were for the good things that had been or might have been, for the bad things that had been but should not have b… - Philip José Farmer

The truth is that Trout, like Vonnegut and Ray Bradbury and many others, writes parables. These are set in frames which have become called, for no good reason, science fiction. A better generic term would be 'future fairy tales'. And even this is objectionable, since many science fiction stories take place in the present or the past, far and near.

The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in the stars but in our lousy genes. Or in the failure of one’s conquest of one’s self.
The fault, dear Brutus, is in our fear of knowing ourselves.

Burton did not believe in miracles. Nothing happened that could not be explained by physical principles — if you knew all the facts.