For the men attempting to defect aboard the submarine Red October, the submarine symbolizes potential freedom. These men live in a country where they cannot own their own car, openly believe in an ideology that is different from that of the ruling political party, or even trust that the medication their loved ones are given is safe and potent enough to cure their illnesses. For this reason, these men choose to commit treason and travel to the US in the hopes of exchanging the submarine for asylum in a democratic country.

For the Soviet Union, Red October symbolizes an advance in technology and the hope that they have a submarine that can potentially sneak up to the coast of the US without detection in the event of a military conflict. Red October contains a new drive system that is essentially silent and able to operate under the ocean without making the detectible sounds their nuclear- and diesel-powered vessels make. However, as the novel progresses, both an American submarine and a Soviet submarine identify the Red October by the sounds of the new drive system, making it clear these technological efforts did not succeed.