Tolkien's choice of the race of hobbits as the main protagonist of both The Hobbit and LOTR has always interested me. They are obviously designed to be the most relatable characters in the books, which is ironic because Man is literally a race in the books, and a race which I personally consider myself to be a part of. But in regards to Men, I can't personally relate to the ideas of kings, nobility, and great and victorious battles. I far prefer the quaint and peaceful life of the Shire, although I couldn't bear to be cooped up in Hobbiton my whole life. I'd be more of a Took probably.
I also feel that the Shire most closely resembles a realm that might have actually existed at some point on Earth, if you substitute the quirks of hobbits for more human features. There is little to no use of magic and other "unearthly" things in the Shire, and you could easily picture it existing somewhere in medieval Europe. The exception is that the hobbits are not ruled by a king or some form of feudal lord. Instead, they institute some form of democracy, which isn't really demonstrated anywhere else in Middle-Earth, where power is gained either through kinship or violence.
Sam is the most relatable character to me. He is seemingly the most normal, and unaccustomed to grandiose adventures and even grander mischief. Throughout the entire trilogy, Sam thoughts keep returning to his garden and his father, much like Bilbo's thoughts would keep returning to his armchair in The Hobbit. Despite this, Sam repeatedly becomes the underappreciated savior of the books, much like R2D2 in many ways. Not too much attention is paid to him, but in the end when he is needed, he is there.
I completely agree that the hobbits are the most relatable race in the novels. I, too, relate more to staying at home and living a fairly quiet life. I also was thinking about why Tolkien made the protagonists in both his books hobbits and came up with the idea that Tolkien wanted to explore more of what a hobbit was and what their strengths and limitations were. As a creative writer I often will write about things I am interested in yet don't completely understand as a way to flesh the ideas out. I think Tolkien was trying to do this with hobbits. He wanted to understand them as well as share his findings with whoever would read the books.
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