What do the last two lines of The Catcher in the Rye signify?

Answer 1

Childhood

Answer 2

It is about Holden (the seventeen year old) who narrates the novel and recalls his past "madman" Christmas. He is flunking another private school and decides to leave and the events follow that. He recalls many events and states many of his opinions as a teenager. It is a good book, but includes profanity and some sexual situations.

Answer 3

The title "The Catcher in the Rye" symbolizes Holden's desire stay young and protect innocence. He says that his dream job is to be the "catcher in the rye" preventing little kids from falling off the edge of a cliff in a field of rye. The children falling off the edge symbolized them losing their innocence and becoming part of the adult world. Throughout the book Holden tries to resist the process of maturity and has a very cynical view of the adult world which he for the most part labels as "phony."

Answer 4

Holden hears the attractive little boy singing the song, and it "cheers him up". It also gives him the insight to see that he'd like a job of protecting children from "falling off the cliff" - allegorical for "growing up".

Answer 5

The last two lines of "The Catcher in the Rye" signify Holden's realization that he wants to protect children from losing their innocence and entering the adult world, which he sees as corrupt and phony. It reflects Holden's desire to be a guardian of children's innocence, symbolized by the image of catching them before they fall.

Answer 6

The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 novel by Jerome David Selinger. The title is drawn from song lyrics and is referenced several times in the novel.