The Medium
The opening line of the story informs readers that what they are about to read has been communicated through a spiritual medium. The rest of the story seems to be a standard first-person recollection. It is not until the twist is revealed at the end that this first-person narrator is revealed to be dead. Therefore, the only way to know what happened to that narrator is through the intervention of the medium. The medium is thus a symbol of the mysteries of what happens after death.
The Car Owner
The owner of the car is a member of the wealthy upper class. He can afford not only an expensive brand-new vehicle but a chauffeur to drive it. The story turns on the crux that the owner insists on driving the car himself despite being unfamiliar with the actual technology that controls the car. He insists upon driving even over the chauffeur's tepidly expressed awareness of the potential danger. The owner is therefore a symbol of class division in which privilege is assigned due to accidents of birth rather than individual merit.
Perkins
Perkins is the chauffeur. He is more experienced in the differences between the former vehicle of his employer and the newest model. He tries to talk the inexperienced owner out of driving without being fully informed of those differences but is rebuffed. As a result of his lower status within the class system, he has no choice but to acquiesce to his "master's" will. Perkins will wind up being injured as a result of his employer's arrogance. This makes him a symbol of the fundamental flaw of class division in which those who know best often have the least power.
The New Car
The car at the center of this story is a thirty-horsepower Robur. The vehicle features a new kind of gearshift with which its owner is unfamiliar. The Robur is too easily guided to its top speed, but not so easily braked to avoid danger. It becomes a symbol of how technology tends to advance at a much faster rate than the ability of most people to master it.
Stanley
Stanley is an old college chum of the car owner. They share the status of upper-class privilege, and the car owner expresses a sympathetic view toward him. Nevertheless, the privileges afforded by class do nothing to stop either man from premature death. Stanley even dies as a soldier and thereby becomes a symbol of the ironic equity among all strata within the inequity of a class system.
