The Wars by Timothy Findley (2)

I have just acquired my copy of "The Wars", and am finding it an interesting, albeit slow, read.  I am almost 30 pages in and so much has happened, even though the main character hasn't done very much. I find that this is common among Canadian novels, and it is a refreshing break from much of modern media.   Too often stories (especially t.v. and movies) focus on special effects and explosions while neglecting the story.  
Anyways, there is something that I find strange.   There is a scene in which the main character tries to stop someone who was hired to kill his recently deceased sister's rabbits.  He surprises the would be rabbit killer, who then proceeds to beat the protagonist  with a some kind of club.
What I find so strange about this, is that it explicitly says that the hired killer has to be pulled off of the protagonist, but it also says that the hired rabbit killer struck the first blow in self-defense and surprise.  However, why not just stop after the first blow or two?  Why would the hired man continue to beat the protagonist? (whose name by the way, is Robert)


That is about all I can think of to say about the novel at the current moment.  I'll have to read more so that I can discover what happens next.
Thanks for reading.