What metaphors are used in Dusklands by John Maxwell Coetzee?

Jacobus uses the metaphor of a type of black beetle, which tries to avert injury and death in all the ways available to him, to describe his eventual release from illness and his trip back to his home. He recalls its life cycle. If the beetle's path is blocked, it will find another route. If every path is blocked, and the beetle is picked up, the insect will feign its own death in order to escape.