Space

     In this section you will find information on the element of space in the hypertext, The Heist.  The different spaces used in the story include the town in which the story takes place, the bank where the actual heist occurs, and Spring Lake Plantation where a fire is set to cause a diversion.  Briefly discussed is also Columbia Correctional Institute, or CCI.  Each of these will be described and discussed below.

BUFORD, SOUTH CAROLINA
    This criminal adventure, oddly enough, begins in the quite town of Buford, South Carolina with a population quickly reaching 2,000. Buford is a small farm town located 30 miles southeast of Columbia, the capital of South Carolina. The author describes it as having one shopping center, an abandoned rail depot, and one stoplight downtown surrounded by about ten buildings.  One of these is the bank, with the police station, ironically, just two doors down.  The main street is US 146, it goes straight through the town.  The robbers plan to use this road as their getaway route.  The majority of the story takes place in this small town, with parts of the story occuring at different places in the town and with some flasbacks going back to the planning of the heist at CCI-Columbia Correctional Institute, a prison. For the most part this is a friendly town, but something that the author makes very clear is the attitude of those who live near and around the small conservative town of Buford. Because Buford is far from the big city life it does not like change or anyone different than they are. This is made apparent in their dislike of  Spring Lake Plantation, and the type of "uptight and unknown" people it will bring into their town. The author best shows the town´s comtempt and resentment towards anything different in their attitude towards their new chief of police, Raymondo Loy. Chief Loy is black and the author tells a lot about Buford through the brief history of Chief Loy and what he thought about the small town of Buford having a black chief of police. " A Black man be chief of police in this town about the time Michael Jackson get elected president,"  were his thoughts when appliying for the job because he felt that Buford was a "Hicktown" and would not accept him because he was black, and  it is clear from the point of view of the reader that he is in fact right about the town. The author illustrates these feelings in Chief Loy's dealings with his fellow officers and their lack of respect for his authority. While the heist takes place in the "modern day" nineties, it is clear that the mind set in Buford, South Carolina is anything but progressive.

THE BANK
    The main part of the heist occurs inside of Farmers Community Bank which is located in the small downtown of Buford just two doors down from the police station. The author describes the bank as " a one story building, with two doors, an entrance and a locked exit."  The bank is easy to imagine the way Mo describes it: " Bank layout's pretty simple. One door in front, one in back. Back door's locked, of course. Counter runs along the back wall, facing the front door. Got the vault in the back left corner, three offices and a bathroom running along the back wall behind the counter."  There is a parking lot in front of the bank where customers park and where the police set up during the heist.  The parking lot is also where Ed Lampier gets killed by the cops exiting the bank during the heist.  The bank is owned by Roland McKenry Sr. and is managed by his son Roland McKenry Jr. Not much else is said of the bank except that a new security system was installed six weeks before the actual heist. This security system inlcudes cameras set up all around the bank and silent alarms in the three bank offices that can be activated by pushing a pedal under the desk, twice within seventy-five seconds. The first part of The Heist in which all the charatcers are introduced and the basic story line is given, takes place in the bank as well as the actual heist itself. During the actual robbery every person in the bank lives the whole experience differently. The author gives the reader the choice of choosing whose point of view to experience it from.

SPRING LAKE PLANTATION
    Within the town of Buford lies Spring Lake Plantation, an estate of homes for wealthy people looking to escape the big city life. These homes are relatively new and are owned by Roland McKenry Jr., manager of Farmers Community Bank and his partner. The author describes these homes as large, modern and city-like but with a calm country setting withouth the "big city price." In another part of the story, the author describes it in more detail.  The streets are very clean, the houses are huge, with "very even, very green grass."  Through Mo's eyes the buildings had steep roofs that looked like they were shingled in copper, tall windows with half circles on top.  the walls were stucco-like painted with neutral colors. Spring Lake Plantation also happens to be the site of the house fire caused as a diversion for the bank robbery. The robbers chose this site because it is on the other side of town from the bank.  On the morning of the heist, the theives drove out to Spring Lake Plantation and went into a predetermined house.  They drench the insides with gasoline and set the place on fire.

    It can be said that the setting chosen by the author couldn't be more perfect. No one would ever expect something like the heist on May 5, 1995  to ever take place in a quite farm town like Buford, South Carolina. The setting was both an advantge and a disadvantage for those involved, but in the end was the perfect space for this thrilling adventure to begin, unravel, and come to it's unexpected end(s).
 
 

Academic year 2002
© a.r.e.a./Dr.Vicente Forés López
© Erica Serna y Maria Alvarez
Universitat de València Press
eser@alumni.uv.es; maeal@alumni.uv.es