In his second novel, La casa verde (1966; translated by Gregory Rabassa and published as The Green House in 1968), Vargas Llosa once again drew from his personal experiences to craft a narrative encompassing the entirety of Peru. His involvement with an Amazonian tribe during an anthropological expedition, along with his encounter with a brothel in the town of Piura, forms the foundation for a rare convergence of two distinct facets of Peruvian culture. The story kicks off with two nuns and a sergeant, accompanied by his aides, abducting two girls from the Aguaruna tribe, only for the girls to eventually escape.

In 1967, Vargas Llosa delivered an acceptance speech for an award he received for The Green House, which has been published under the title La literatura es fuego (Literature Is Fire). In this speech, Vargas Llosa articulated his perspective on the role of the writer. He emphasized that a writer has a duty to contribute to society in any way possible. For him, this means that a writer must engage in constructive criticism of the society he lives in.

Conversación en la catedral (1969; translated by Rabassa and published as Conversation in the Cathedral in 1975) narrates the life of Santiago Zavala. Similar to other male characters in Vargas Llosa's works, Santiago is anticipated to follow his father's path. However, Santiago rebels by mingling with the lower class to avoid the corruption inherent in his father's social circle.

Vargas Llosa experienced an artistic shift, evident in his 1973 novel, Pantaleón y las visitadoras (published as Captain Pantoja and the Special Service in 1978). Although the artistic style diverges from his 1960s novels, the themes remain familiar: the military and corruption. Captain Pantaleon Pantoja is assigned a covert mission to establish a prostitution network to serve soldiers at the front lines. The military's aim is to reduce assaults on civilian women, but they must not be linked to the operation, so Pantoja must keep his true identity a secret.

Drawing from his own life, Vargas Llosa's 1977 novel, La tía Julia y el escribidor (translated as Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter in 1982), tells the story of a novelist who falls in love with his aunt. This humorous novel delves into the challenges of the creative process.

One of Vargas Llosa's more recent works, Death in the Andes (1996), touches on the Shining Path movement, Dionysian rituals, a witch, human sacrifice, mystery, and Peruvian society. The plot centers on the disappearance of three men from a village and the soldiers tasked with investigating. The narrative evolves into a murder mystery and offers a sweeping portrayal of late-twentieth-century Peru.

The German academies of the early twentieth century inspired institutions like the Leoncio Prado Academy. Robert Musil's novel Young Torless exposes the psychological torment that boys inflict upon each other in such high-pressure environments. Despite being dismissed as mere boys, the protagonists' mindset and conduct are strikingly similar to those of the army officers they idolize.

British schoolboys are equally capable of indulging in male fantasies as their counterparts in Germany, Peru, or America. William Golding illustrated this point in his renowned novel, Lord of the Flies. The story begins with a nuclear war prompting the evacuation of Britain, leading to a plane carrying prep-school boys crashing on an island. On the island, the boys form two gangs, and the gang symbolizing primitive instincts would have prevailed if the adult rescuers had arrived any later.

The immense pressure placed on young men from the upper classes by their fathers is significant, even in America. In The Dead Poets Society by N. H. Kleinbaum and Stephen Haft (1989), wealthy boys are educated in a rigid environment until a new English teacher, Mr. Keating, introduces them to great poets like Walt Whitman. Inspired by literature, they begin to defy the rules to read poetry or seek love. Neil Perry chooses to end his life rather than conform to his father's strict world, where everything is serious and pursuing a career in Shakespearean drama is forbidden.