If “The lion opened the door” means a brave man did so, “lion” has figurative force. If the account instead concerns an actual lion and its enclosure, there may be no reason to abandon the ordinary meaning. The decision rests on contextual evidence and the feasibility of the literal reading.
A disciplined analysis starts with the conventional sense, checks whether it is viable, and then asks what indicator justifies another meaning. Unfamiliar phrasing alone does not license a figurative interpretation.