who is joe dimaggio in the book of the old man and the sea

DiMaggio is never in this story. He, however, exists as an important symbol. Santiago is impressed with his strength and commitment. DiMaggio’s feats on the baseball field are mythic. Santiago feeds into this myth. It gives him strength to carry on; Santiago creates his own myth where, like DiMaggio, he is the hero struggling against the odds.

To Santiago, DiMaggio represents not only his favorite baseball player but he also represents the major themes of the novel: unity, manhood, pride and success.

Over coming his pain like Joe DiMaggio did