Along the way, Holden comes across Sally Hayes, an old girlfriend; Carl Luce, a past friend; three ladies at a hotel lobby who give him little regard because of his age; two nuns who discuss Shakespeare with him; and an old teacher named Mr. Antolini who Holden later believes to be homosexual. Holden's loneliness is a driving force throughout the book. Most of the novel describes his almost manic adventure for companionship as he floats from one meaningless encounter to another. Yet, while his behavior indicates his loneliness, Holden consistently pushes away intimate conversations and events and thus doesn't really know why he acts as he does. Because Holden depends on his isolation to maintain his preservation from the world and to keep a certain level of protection, he often destroys his own attempts to end his loneliness. For example, his conversation with Carl Luce and his date with Sally Hayes are made nearly impossible by his rude behavior. His calls to Jane Gallagher are aborted for a similar reason: to protect his craving to be unique and individual. Loneliness is both a source of great pain and a source of his security. The novel only occurs within a three-day time span. However, Mr. Caulfield shows a major epiphany within that time period. Holden Caulfield's famous line throughout the story is summed up in one simple word: "Phoniness." He tries so desperately to dig the hypocrisy, lies, and superficiality out of every person he meets in an attempt to avoid growing up. He gives the example of wanting to be the "catcher in the rye." He wants to catch all the little children before they fall off the cliff into adulthood. He's so wrapped up in his fantasies, he doesn't see his own phoniness. He's blind to the fact that he uses other people's superficiality to hide and run from maturity. He just wants the world to be simple. Simply said, it isn't. Toward the end of the book, Caulfield realizes that he cannot continue avoiding maturity.