BEg2 Chapter 3 Deseret

[Allen Ruch]

I know it’s been mentioned here that “Deseret” means “honeybee” in Mormonspeak. I didn’t see the following discussed, so I thought I’d chime in:

The term itself (pronounced with a hard “t,” not like a French word: Gentiles often make that mistake) comes from the Book of Mormon, and means “honeybee” in the language of the Jaredites. Why is this interesting? Because the Jaredites were exiled to America after the fall of the Tower of Babel, so we have the whole “tower” connection there. Also, the Jaredite language received a pass from God on the whole scramble-thing, so it still remains pure. An unbroken vessel of language, so to speak.

Deseret also has a significant political meaning. Back in the 1840s, when the Mormons (some might argue reasonably) wanted to secede from the Unite States, they proposed to create the Nation of Deseret. (Sometimes this is referred to as a kingdom, and sometimes a republic. It depends on who’s doing the proposing.) In any event, they did declare a State of Deseret, which was larger than Utah and had its own flag. It didn’t last too long, as the federal government took a dim view of such expansionist ideas when coming from people even crazier than themselves.

To this day, the idea of a separate Deseret has a romantic, nostalgic ring to some Mormons, and to many genre writers as well! There have been dozens of independent Deserets in various alternative history narratives.

And possibly most interesting to Pynchon fans, there’s George Watt’s “Deseret alphabet.” Back in the late 1840s, the Mormons devised a replacement for the English alphabet. It’s too complicated to get into here, but you can have fun here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deseret_alphabet

http://www.deseretalphabet.org

Needless to say, this “Mormon code” has intrigued many people to this day. Some may even know it by heart! Some people on this very List, perhaps?

And finally, just to point out, Pynchon calling the hotel “The Deseret” brings to mind the Mormons, sure, in some ways the ultimate “white Americans:” and yet, unlike WASPs, they have a word for non-Mormons that Maxine would understand: Gentiles.

—Quail