Parliament
In the 21st century, William finds that the building where Parliament used to meet has been turned into a market and a storage facility for manure. This shows the people of the 21st century's disregard for things of the 19th century; they have not been completely destroyed, but the memory of many has been defiled.
William's Pipe
Dick decides that William should experience the 21st-century system of exchanging goods and William decides that he would like to get a pipe and some tobacco. Morris uses this experience and the pipe itself to symbolize the way the new economic system has affected products themselves. William almost cannot believe how well the pipe has been crafted, and is tempted to not accept it simply because it seems too lavish for him and he fears losing it. However, the shopkeeper encourages him by saying that if he loses it, then someone else will find and use it. The fact that Morris chose to symbolize this through a pipe focuses on how people take special care in making devices of pleasure.
The Thames
The Thames is a major element of News from Nowhere. William lives right next to the Thames in the 19th century, and when he wakes up in the 21st century and sees the Thames, he thinks at first that nothing has changed since the river still looks the same (though perhaps a bit clearer, he notes once he is up close). Thus, the Thames represents something of England that will never change, a symbol of stability and national heritage throughout history, no matter the political climate.
The Bridge
In contrast to the constancy of the Thames, when William wakes up in the 21st century, he finds that a bridge he once hated has changed in a major way. Back in the 19th century on the night he falls asleep and has his time traveling dream, he pauses to look out at the Thames from the street in front of his home and sees that the serenity of nature is only ruined for him by "an ugly suspension bridge" (4). Then, when William wakes up in the 21st century, one of the first things he does is return to this same spot for a swim. He describes this bridge in even more detail, thinking, "I had perhaps dreamed of such a bridge, but never seen such an one out of an illuminated manuscript; for not even the Ponte Vecchio at Florence came anywhere near it. It was of stone arches, splendidly solid, and as graceful as they were strong; high enough also to let ordinary river traffic through easily. Over the parapet showed quaint and fanciful little buildings, which I supposed to be booths or shops, beset with painted and gilded vanes and spirelets. The stone was a little weathered, but showed no marks of the grimy sootiness which I was used to on every London building more than a year old. In short, to me a wonder of a bridge" (8). Morris uses this detailed description of the bridge to draw contrasts between the 21st century and the 19th century as well as compare the 21st century to the ages of England before the Industrial Revolution, which is later also shown through people's dress and customs.
William Guest
William himself is a symbol of the 19th century. Since he is the only character the reader meets from the 19th century, especially to a reader from later centuries, he can be seen to symbolize everything from the political and economic systems to the systems of education and criminal justice. The reader learns about the 19th century, especially what aspects of society were totally ingrained in William's life, by what he has trouble understanding and adjusting to in the 21st century. However, his yearning for and approval of the 21st-century way of life is intended to show that a socialist society would be preferred by all in the 19th century once they become used to it.
