The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

Tristram is the narrator of the novel. Can he be considered the protagonist? If he is not the protagonist, who is? If he is the protagonist, even though he spends most of the novel talking about others, why?

The characters in Tristram Shandy each try to assert control over their lives in different ways: Walter through academic research and debate, Toby by recreating the battle that wounded him, and Tristram by writing his life. To what extent are their attempts to exert control successful? In what ways do other characters try to exert control?

Tristram describes his theory about hobbyhorses at great length. To what extent do these hobbyhorses explain his theories about the human condition?