The Analytical Engine
This real machine was Charles Babbage's attempt at a radical new computation device. The 1800's were a fascinating time of technological progress, but this novel adds on top of those changes an important sci-fi spin: In this novel, Babbage's invention not only works but works radically well, leading to an explosion in computation and technology that thrusts the British forward in time, so to speak. The machine is a symbol for how technology progress really works, because one simple invention could change the entire world.
The monarchy
The monarchy becomes a symbol for the past, which makes sense, because the monarchy is literally a device for certain people to maintain power through time and generations. In this book, the power of the monarchy pales in comparison to the new economic methods of technological future. This novel explores what it might have looked like to transition into the technological era at the same time as the Industrial Revolution, and the novel speculates that such a drastic change might have ended the monarchy.
The technocrats
Instead of monarchical power and the structure that is preserved through it, the novel suggests power would belong to "technocrats," which are aristocrats who establish their power by technological skill. The skill that technocrats possess is political powerful because they can make money very rapidly. The technocrats are a symbol for technology endeavors in general, and they point symbolically to the connection between government and economy.
Sybil as a symbol
Sybil is something like a protagonist in the novel, but she is understood through the lens of Laurence Oliphant, a man whose analytical prowess makes him able to succeed in many different endeavors. Through his point of view, the reader sees Sybil as a symbol for adaptation. Her father failed to adjust to the changes in technology and he was left behind in the dust. Sybil, on the other hand, is a clever and adaptive person who does not show her cards to just anyone. She is strategic and views the new society as a game that she could win by learning and strategizing.
"The Stink"
One inevitable consequence of the Industrial Revolution was climate change, and this novel does not miss that aspect of technology and change. The story tells of a great "Stink" in London that symbolizes pollution and climate change. The smog in London is more than stinky, the reader knows, but through dramatic irony, the full weight of the symbol is concealed from the characters. The reader, however, will likely recognize it as a symbolic reference to climate change.
