One symbol that is seen throughout the last few chapters of the novel is "Fuck You" penned or graffiti'd onto places relevant to Holden's childhood. When he sees the words written on the wall at Phoebe's (as well has his past) elementary school and one of the "sacred" tombs of the museum, Holden goes of on rage-fueled tangents. The signs symbolize the corruption of Holden's childhood and innocence, and serve as yet another immoral observation that creates internal conflict for him in the novel.
"That's the whole trouble. You can't ever find a place that's nice and peaceful, because there isn't any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you're not looking, somebody'll sneak up and write 'Fuck you' right under your nose. Try it sometime. I think, even, if I ever die, and they stick me in a cemetery, and I have a tombstone and all, it'll say "Holden Caulfield" on it, and then what year I was born and what year I died, and then right under that it'll say 'Fuck you.' I'm positive, in fact."
"If you had a million years to do it in, you couldn't rub out even half the 'Fuck you' signs in the world. It's impossible."
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