William Paley
William Paley is the main character of the work, describing how things working together in the material world represent a deity. His most reurring analogy is that of a watch, where the common person does not know how it works and does not know of the parts inside. The same, he says, can be said of a God - no one really knows how it works, but it is certainly there.
Paley presents evidence that doesn't really seem to back up his claims, and is adept at making outrageous jumps which he calls "inferences". It is conclusively up to the reader to decide whether his work makes sense or is accurate.
Watch
The watch comes up so often in the book that it is like a character itself. Paley himself is the only real character, but the watch is the main analogy that he uses throughout the course of his explanation of God and the unknown. The watch represents something that the common person does not know much about - no one has ever seen one made, and no one really knows how it works.
Paley argues that the watch is like God in this sense. No one really knows how it works, and no one has seen it or Him. No one, however, can deny that a watch exists, as it is in the material world. However, a growing number of people deny the existence of God only because He is spiritual in nature. If both posses aspects that are unknown and work in unknown ways, than why can not everyone believe in God as they believe in the watch?
