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Although her appearances in the novel are very brief, Alice’s sister plays an important rhetorical role by contrasting with Alice herself. She is the only other character from the real world that the reader gets to meet, and, as a result, she becomes a vehicle through which Carroll can express his views on Victorian society at large. The fact that Alice’s sister does not have a name of her own calls attention to this function. Instead of having a unique, individual identity, the ambiguity surrounding Alice’s sister allows her to become a symbol of her social class. Carroll suggests, through his description of Alice’s sister and her book in the opening paragraph of the novel, that the elite are dull and uncompromising. With “no pictures or conversations in it,” her book reflects an overreliance on rationality. Alice goes on to question the usefulness of such a book, foreshadowing Carroll’s critique of Victorian values.
When Alice’s sister reappears at the end of the novel, she continues to fill her role as the primary touchstone for reality, but she also engages with her sister in a new way. She actively listens to Alice’s whimsical story and even begins to imagine the different scenes for herself once she is alone. Including Alice’s sister at the beginning and end of the novel, which essentially allows her to frame Alice’s journey to Wonderland, enables Carroll to demonstrate the effect that imagination has on perceptions of reality. Alice’s sister does not necessarily believe that Wonderland is real, but she comes to see the value of how such stories can make someone feel. Her warm reflections on Alice’s future as an adult highlights the idea that her willingness to believe will continue to significantly impact her point of view, bringing happiness into her life despite the bleak world around her. Through this final moment of admiration, Carroll seems to suggest that Alice’s embrace of the unexpected has ultimately changed her for the better.
