The twenties were the building blocks of the society that we know today. Before the twenties, jazz-like music was completely unknown and surrealism was a completely foreign concept. Once the twenties showed up though, a younger generation started to take over.
When alcohol was banned, people began to act out. They fought against the government by importing alcohol and throwing large parties where you could drink as much as you wanted. when this began, people's thoughts began to change a bit. They stopped seeing things to literally and started seeing them in a bit of a metaphorical way. Surrealism is a good example of this concept. Before the twenties, realism was one of the only (appreciated) art forms. It looked at things in a very literal way, if you saw a man sitting under a tree, that was all that was there. But once the twenties arrived, (1925 to be exact) surrealism arrived.
Surrealism was more an expression. It exhibited free thought and rebellion. Surrealism showed things in a more metaphorical way, you wouldn't see a man sitting under a tree, and if you did there would be some deep meaning behind it. The cover of "The Great Gatsby" is a perfect example of surrealism. It shows a woman with no nose and a single green tear rolling down the side of her "face".
Also, jazz showed up on the scene. Jazz was unheard of pre-twenties, the sound was different from any other form of music and the musicians themselves were different, (jazz musicians were often minorities, which was very uncommon for the era). People that listened to jazz were often people like Gatsby from "The Great Gatsby". They might or might not have money but they were typically against the government, (or at least the ban on alcohol).
The twenties truly brought about one of the first "rebellious ages". All of the norms were being changed from "classical" to "abstract". If it weren't for the 1920's, our generation wouldn't be the same at all.
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