It was one of those less lowering, but still grey and gloomy enough mornings of the transition, when with a fair wind the ship was rushing through the water with a vindictive sort of leaping and melancholy rapidity, that as I mounted to the deck at the call of the forenoon watch, so soon as I leveled my glance towards the taffrail, foreboding shivers ran over me. What theme in the novel does Melville allude to with his use of the word “vindictive” to describe the movement of the ship in this excerpt?

The theme in the novel which Melville alludes to with his use of the word “vindictive” to describe the movement of the ship in this excerpt is:

Revenge

Based on the given text, we can see that there is the narration about the movement of a ship and its vindictive leaping and melancholy rapidity.

Connotative meaning

This refers to the implied meaning of a word and how its meaning is based on the context used.

With this in mind, we can see that the use of the word "vindictive " shows that there is the likelihood that there would be the main theme of the story would be that of revenge.

Therefore, the correct answer is Revenge