not this and that

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

[color=red]1) He was not angry and exhausted.

Can’t this sentence mean two things:
a) He was not angry and he was exhausted.
b) It is not true that he was angry and disillusioned.

Would a comma after ‘angry’ make the sentence have only meaning ‘a’?

=

[color=red]2) He was not competitive and without self-esteem.

Is ‘2’ correct?
It is supposed to mean: He was not competitive and did not have self esteem.
Would a comma after ‘competitive’ help?

Gratefully,
Navi.

2

I would not read sentence (1) as (a). I would expect ‘He was not angry, but he was exhausted.’ with that meaning.
For me, the original sentence indicates that he was not at least one of those two things. He may not have been either of them.

2)should be ‘He was not competitive and was without self esteem.’