The conflict that ensues is not a quest for justice or a mission to save the world; it is a breakdown of communication. The local sheriff, Will Teasle (Brian Dennehy), sees Rambo as a nuisance, a "drifter" disrupting the order of his town. What follows is a systemic harassment that triggers Rambo’s PTSD. The film’s central thesis is encapsulated in the abuse Rambo suffers in the jail cell, which mirrors the torture he endured as a POW in Vietnam. When he escapes, he does not go on the offensive to kill; he goes on the defensive to survive.