在电影中不断重复出现“天鹅的羽毛”，而一开始的独白是这样说的。The old woman remembered a swan she had bought many years
ago in Shanghai for a foolish sum. “This bird,” boasted the market
vendor,“was once a duck that stretched its neck in hopes of becoming
a goose.And now look. It is too beautiful to eat.” Then the woman and
the swan sailed across an ocean many thousands of li wide stretching their
necks to America. On the journey, she cooed to the swan, “In America I
will have a daughter just like me. But over there, nobody will say her worth
is measured by the loudness of her husband’s belch. Over there, nobody
will look down on her, because I will make her speak only perfect American
English. And over there, she will always be too full to swallow any
sorrow. She will know my meaning because I will give her this swan, a
creature that became more than what was hoped for.” But when she
arrived in the new country, the immigration officals pulled the swan away
from her, leaving the woman fluttering her arms, and with only one swan
feather for a memory. For a long time now, the woman had wanted to
give her daughter the single swan feather, and tell her,”This feather
may look worthless, but it comes from afar and carries with it, all my good
intentions.”
最后一个故事中，June带着天鹅的羽毛找到了双胞胎姐姐，并告诉她们羽毛中是母亲的希望。这一幕揭示了天鹅羽毛的含义，把所有的故事串连成一体。
虽然这部电影讲述了四个家庭的故事，但是四个故事都有他们的相似之处。四个母亲中有三个，反应出传统中国文化对女性的不公平对待，包括Lindo因父母之命媒妁之言与大户人家定下婚约；Ying Ying情窦初开之际爱上花花大少，在羞辱中度过两年郁闷的婚姻生活后溺死了自己的孩子。她们不可以挣脱，除非她们离开孕育这传统文化的土地。但是奇怪的是，当她们到了美国社会，挣扎奋斗出另一种人生，想给她们女儿另一种命运，却发现女儿承袭着自己的过去，用另一种方式重蹈人生的悲剧。唯一自小反抗母亲的女儿，又特别地被母亲的冷漠态度干扰，彻底失去了自信和自我。在女儿承袭了母亲的不幸人生之后，母亲们透过讲述自己的故事，赋予女儿坚强的力量与自信，让女儿及早阻止悲剧继续发展下去。
这部电影讲述了女性的不公平待遇以及女性通过努力为后代创造新生活，同时还专注与母女的关系，这让我感到母女之间的奇妙的特殊的情感。平时可能没有特别深刻的体会，但是看了这部电影，我才发现原来我和母亲之间也有一种很特殊的联系，而这种联系是无法用言语告知别人的。
