what images does a swan suggest?

Suyuan wanted Jing-Mei to understand the importance of her Chinese identity, but at the same time she wanted her to be American and privileged, to be proof (like the swan from Feathers from a Thousand Li Away) of just how far her mother had come. She wanted Jing-mei to imitate the quintessentially American Shirley Temple, to become an American swan. Like what Lindo wanted for Waverly, Suyuan wanted Jing-mei to have the childhood she could not.