What do the different versions of the story of the man buried in the stockman's grave tell us about the nature of stories, and the nature of truth?

Throughout the novel, several characters tell different versions of the story of the man buried in the stockman's grave. It is Nathan who tells the true story at the novel's conclusion. What might this tell us about the nature of stories, and the nature of truth? Can you draw any parallels between this and any other stories told in this novel?

The actual truth is often a far cry from the version of it as stories are passed down and told through the lenses of others.

The stockman's death has become a local myth and a sort of ghost story that scares the two children in the book. Only late in the book do we find out the real story, which is far more inspiring than the earlier versions. The father's sacrifice of his own life to save his son is the opposite of the two bad fathers - Carl and Cameron- who care far more for themselves than for their own children.

The scary portrayals of the stockman throughout the story are to make his demise more dramatic and and attention getting, and the grave more symbolic. The true story that the stockman was saving his children isn't as attention getting. This disparity symbolized the story to me. Carl and Cameron were the scary side of the stockman stories, and Liz was the real symbol of the stockman who acted to save her family.

The actual story is over time expanded and details added that make it bigger than it really was a the time.

I have to agree with MarciaS.
The nature of how stories change also made me think about other primitive cultures where there was (or still is) no written word to document their history. They relied (or still rely) on accurate details, told precisely, so that generations would (or still will) remember what happened to their people.