[The] hobbits are the race par excellence in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. One can tell this in part because Tolkien uses their point of view, but even more because he obviously likes them very much indeed, and without evading their shortcomings in his portrayal. I can also tell from a letter which Tolkien sent me in 1958, in which he said, "I am in fact a hobbit."

So what are hobbits like, these original and most important creatures of Tolkien's? Their main qualities are apparent: they are small, provincial, and comfort-loving. (p. 71)

[Hobbits] are the aspect of humanity which I have dubbed, for the purposes of this paper, Everyclod—unjustly, of course. For as we all know, "there is more to them than meets the eye."

Tolkien has done his portraiture finely. We are all in some way small, provincial, and comfort-loving—and we see...